The Power Of A Squib
by Ys
Summary: [Complete] As disappearances happen at Hogwarts, Hermione finds the most unexpected ally to come with her to the rescue...
1. Disappearances

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Disappearances ~**

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The tall, lanky woman had a feral smile when seeing the look of pure rage on the face of the man in front of her. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to let her take his wand. Seething, he followed her lead as she motioned him with his own wand; the smooth moves were enough to indicate she knew how to use it. He made his way in the dark corridors, his mind already listing all the punishments he would inflict to her for bringing him such humiliation. She smiled knowingly as she walked just behind him. He could feel her presence but could not hear the sounds of her steps. It irritated him; if he didn't hear her, he could not plan in advance her moves. He sighed and dejectedly resigned himself to his fate. 

~*~

Hermione groaned when a furry head butted against hers. She moved a hand, scratched twice behind the velvet ears and turned the head away. Crookshanks was not so easy to dissuade. He moved around and began enthusiastically to lick her brow. 

"Ow! Crooks, your tongue is rough!" 

He meowed in answer. She groaned again, grabbed her wand and murmured: 

"_Lumos!_" 

Her room lit up immediately and, once again, she was glad that being Head Girl granted her the privilege of her own room. Crookshanks was seating on her spare pillow, looking smug. She looked at him and scowled. 

"Now, may I know what prompted you to wake me up at one in the morning?" 

Crookshanks yawned and blinked lazily. She knew he did that on purpose. He wouldn't relent until she had done what he wanted. 

"Do I have to get out of bed?" she asked resignedly. 

A soft mew. 

"To put on my clothes?" 

After a few other questions, Hermione sighed, slipped on her robes and slippers and secured her wand in her left sleeve. She verified that her Head Girl badge was properly pinned on her robes and opened her door. 

"Well, Crooks? Lead the way, since it can't wait." 

Dignified, his tail raised high, Crookshanks passed in front of her. She rolled her eyes, closed her door and re-set her wards. Crookshanks was padding along in the corridors with confidence as if he didn't fear to be caught. Hermione swallowed hard. Of course he didn't care for being caught: he was a cat! He didn't risk losing points if Filch or Professor Snape found him in the corridors after curfew. He didn't risk detention either. She had a nervous laugh; what detention could one invent for a cat? She almost imagined Filch's voice saying: 

"One evening with Hagrid's dog, you sorry excuse for a cat!" 

She didn't dare think how Crookshanks would react face to Fang. 

~*~

She followed her ginger cat, regretting that she hadn't gone to Harry's dormitory for getting his Invisibility Cloak. Had she still been in Gryffindor Tower, she would probably have done so before foolishly following Crookshanks. She recognised the way to the dungeons and winced. Now, she was sure she wouldn't come out of it alive. 

She heard footsteps and looked quickly around, spotting a dark alcove in which she could hide. Filch passed in front go her and she expected Mrs. Norris to follow suit and betray her position. But there was no Mrs. Norris. 

Filch knocked at something that looked like an arch. The air shimmered and Hermione remembered that it was the entry to Professor Snape's private quarters. As a Head Girl, she had been given the position of every dormitory and of the offices and private rooms of everybody on the staff. 

"Professor Snape?" 

Filch's voice was anxious and half-broken. He kept looking around as if expecting someone to come out of the darkness. He knocked several more times but there was still no answer. Hermione knew that by now, Professor Snape would have answered, if he were in his rooms. Filch slid on the floor and began to sob. Hermione's mouth went agape. Crookshanks coiled around her ankles, rubbing his head against her calves, and looked up at her as if asking her what she was waiting for. 

"Head Girl," she thought quite indistinctly. "I am supposed to be there for anybody needing help or comfort… Argh, can't believe I'm thinking of helping Filch! He will bite my head off or lock me in those manacles of his… Well, time for me to unearth the legendary Gryffindor courage…" 

Silently, she came out of her hiding place and knelt behind Filch. She slowly put her hand on his shoulder. 

"Mr. Filch? What is the matter, sir?" 

He turned his head toward her. 

"What are you doing out of bed? Detention!" he said, trying to make his voice sound as rough as usually. 

"I know, Mr. Filch. But Crookshanks seemed to thing that there was something wrong." 

The caretaker noticed the smug cat sitting in front of him for the first time. 

"Intelligent cat you have here, Miss. Almost as intelligent as my Mrs. Norris!" 

On those words, he emitted a noise that sounded suspiciously like a strangled sob. 

"Where is Mrs. Norris, sir? I didn't see her tonight." 

"That's the point, Miss! Mrs. Norris disappeared and I hoped Professor Snape could help me find her – he's always nice to me, Professor Snape, not like all those arrogant Slytherin students – but it seems that Professor Snape disappeared also!" 

Hermione was dumbfounded. 

~*~

"Are you sure that he's simply not… out?" she asked, thinking of the spying activities of Professor Snape. 

Voldemort had been defeated earlier that year, but there were still some Death Eaters to find and Professor Snape was still an active spy among them. 

"No, no, Miss, the Professor always tells me when he goes out." 

He eyed her suspiciously. 

"I take it that you know about the Professor then?" 

She nodded warily. She doubted Filch was among Voldemort's supporters, but she wasn't known to spill anybody's secrets. 

"I usually find him when he comes back hurt," he explained. 

He realised then that Hermione's hand was still on his shoulder. She blushed, thankful for the darkness surrounding them, and retrieved her hand hurriedly. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to presume anything–" 

"It's quite alright, Miss. Thank you for your concern." 

He wiped clumsily his tears, as if ashamed, and straightened up. 

"Well, I suppose I will continue to search for Mrs. Norris and Professor Snape." 

"I can help you if you want. I don't think Crookshanks will let me go to bed without solving the problem first anyway. I believe he's quite protective of Mrs. Norris." 

"He gave her kittens?" he asked, bristling. 

She laughed gently. 

"Not at all. But Crooks feels compelled to protect the women in his territory. It seems Mrs. Norris has been included in it." 

"You would accept to help me then?" he asked gratefully. "Honestly, I'm worried. Mrs. Norris isn't prone to such pranks and Professor Snape never disappears without a word. I'm afraid it could be something above my… abilities." 

He didn't add a word and Hermione understood perfectly. It was never easy for a wizard to openly admit he was a Squib – especially to a Muggle-born witch. 

"I understand. I will gladly help you, if you forget for a moment the 'no magic in the corridors' rule." 

Filch graced her with an unexpected grin. 

"Not that it bothered you before. You are Miss Granger, are you not?" 

She had an embarrassed smile and extended her hand. 

"Hermione Granger, sir." 

"Argus Filch, Miss," he replied, shaking her hand. 

~*~

She took her wand in her right hand, ready for anything. She noticed that he had also a wand in his left hand. He squirmed slightly under her quick quizzical glance. 

"The Headmaster insisted on it, five years ago. He seemed to think that I would overcome the difficulties and become a bit of a… wizard." 

She patted his free hand. 

"I'm sure he was right, Mr. Filch. If you don't mind, would you tell me how advanced you are in your Kwikspell courses?" 

He looked at her with surprise. 

"How do you know about it? This is the Potter boy, isn't it? I knew it, I knew he had read the letter five years ago! Always like his father, this one–" 

"Mr. Filch. Maybe Harry did tell me, but I noticed in the seven years I've been here that I never saw you with a wand in hand. I assure you that only a very limited number knows the truth about you." 

He sighed. 

"Wizards don't want to know about Squibs, Miss. They say it's degrading and that the existence of Squibs is an insult to them." 

"Degrading? That's ridiculous. There's nothing to be ashamed of, especially since you are trying to use your magic even so!" 

"I'm afraid I'm not very far," he murmured. "I think I have maybe covered the spells that you studied in your first year." 

Her small gasp sent him on the defensive. 

"I'm aware that it took me five years to learn them, but I had a hard time with the wand alone already." 

"It's alright, Mr. Filch," she said hastily. "Do you know how to disarm your adversary?" 

"No, Miss. It's not on the program yet." 

"Would you mind learning it now?" she offered. "It could be very useful for us later." 

"You would be willing to teach me spells?" 

Hermione was going from surprise to surprise. Now that she had passed Filch's barrier of coldness and meanness, she found herself face to face with a man lacking confidence, persuaded he was the scum of the streets and bitter about it. 

"Mr. Filch," she said solemnly, careful of keeping any condescendence and pity from her tone, "If you ever need someone to practice your spells with, I would be glad to be there for you." 

He noticed how she hadn't said 'help' or 'advise' and he nodded. 

"Miss, I may take you up on your word," he said with a timid smile. 

She beamed at him. 

~*~

"Now, Mr. Filch, the spell… One word, _Expelliarmus_. It should be enough to make my wand fly in your hand. Go on." 

He positioned himself in front of her and pointed his wand at her. 

"_Expelliarmus_." 

Nothing happened. He lowered his wand, looking as if he was ready to walk away. 

"Mr. Filch, you have to put more conviction in the word. You _want_ to disarm me. You _want_ to have my wand in your hand. Try again!" 

She was smiling at him and he felt that it wasn't a mocking smile. She was encouraging him, she believed he could do it. 

"_Expelliarmus!_" 

"Almost!" she cried gleefully. "I felt my wand move in my hand! Try again, Mr. Filch!" 

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" 

Her wand flew in his hand and she stumbled backwards until she hit the wall. He ran to her. 

"Miss Granger?" he asked, concerned. 

He had the surprise of his life when she threw her arms around his neck, laughing. 

"You did it! I knew you could! Those people from the Kwikspell courses underestimate you, they go too slow for you! You just need someone to practice with!" 

"Are you sure, Miss? People say they just need a month to learn things like Transfiguration." 

"We learnt this spell in our second year and look, it took you only three tries to master it! Do you know the Silencing Charm?" 

"No." 

"And the one to stop the current spell?" 

He shook his head, quite bewildered. Hermione's enthusiasm was contagious. He couldn't believe she was glad to teach him spells she had learnt five years earlier. She smiled again, encouragingly. 

"I will teach you this one first, if you don't mind. I'm sure you wouldn't have me mute for twenty minutes. So, the words are _Finite Incantatem_. Crooks, baby, come here. _Petrificus Totalus_." 

Filch gasped when Crookshanks fell heavily on his flank. Hermione urged him, so he aimed his wand at the petrified cat and said: 

"_Finite Incantatem!_" 

It took him several tries – maybe because he knew that Hermione could undo her spell – before succeeding. As soon as he did, Hermione cast a legs-binding spell on Crookshanks who glared at her. Filch freed him the first time he said the counter-spell. Hermione immediately knelt by her cat and proceeded to apologise with heavy petting and idiotic cooing of apologies. 

"Next spell," she said without looking up, scratching Crookshanks's ears. "_Silencio_. It should silence–" 

Her lips continued to move but no sound came out of them. Filch flashed her an apologetic smile and quickly murmured: 

"_Finite Incantatem_." 

"Well, I see you were quite unnerved by my talking," she commented. "I think we are ready." 

"Are you telling me you are relying on me in this mission?" 

"Of course, Mr. Filch. You probably know Hogwarts much better than anybody else and you know handy spells. I have no doubts you'll prove more than useful in this." 

They began prowling the corridors, discussing in a low voice, staying on their guard. 

~*~

Hermione was truly impressed by Filch's knowledge of the grounds. There were places she had never seen, even with the Marauder's Map. After one hour of vain search, she hazarded a question: 

"Do you think they could have left Hogwarts?" 

"For Hogsmeade? I doubt it. Mrs. Norris never goes out of Hogwarts." 

"Are we really sure that they are together?" 

"No, Miss, but I'd feel better if Mrs. Norris was here with us. She would be able to find Professor Snape in moments." 

"I guess so," she murmured, remembering all the times she had been caught – or nearly caught – by Filch's cat. 

He smiled at her, gently mocking, as if to remind her that there were reasons why he was caretaker of Hogwarts. 

Two more hours of search were as fruitless as the previous ones. Hermione rested a moment against a wall, her feet hurting. 

"We shouldn't be far from morning. People will notice Professor Snape's absence and they will come looking for him." 

"No, Miss. The Professor is lonely and tomorrow, well today, is Saturday. Only the Headmaster could have something to tell him, but he's in London for the weekend." 

"The Slytherins… He's their Head of House." 

"If he's not here, they will be able to do more mischief," said Filch bitterly. "Go to bed, Miss. We will start to search again later in the day, if you agree." 

"Naturally, Mr. Filch. We will find them, sound and safe. Goodnight, Mr. Filch." 

~*~

"Elena! This is enough! Let me go instantly!" 

"No, dear. I've wanted recognition for a long time now and you've denied it to me all along. You regret to have ignored me now, don't you?" 

"Oh, certainly Elena!" he replied sarcastically. "You are on my mind every minute of my life and I curse myself daily for overlooking you." 

"That's more like it, dear," she purred, brushing her long nails against his cheek. 

He didn't move, just looking above her head, his eyes unfathomable. 

"Look at me when I talk to you!" 

Blood smeared his face where her nails had scratched him. 

"You can threaten me, Elena," he said with a weary voice, "you can hurt me, torture me, even kill me if you want, but it will never bring you the attention you crave for." 

"You're so mean!" she exclaimed, her voice suddenly full of tears. "I can't believe I've spent seventeen years sighing after you!" 

"I can't believe it either," he muttered. 

He walked to a corner, sat on the filthy floor with a grimace of distaste, circled his knees with his arms and added calmly: 

"Please wake me up when you come to your senses." 

He laid his head on his knees and closed his eyes. Elena stood there, dumbstruck. 

~*~

Hermione took only a few hours of sleep. Crookshanks was too unnerved for letting her sleep longer. She took a hot shower, hoping to awake a bit better, dressed with old clothes and chose her most comfortable shoes. She had the impression the search would not go easy. 

She rushed into the Great Hall for breakfast before anybody else was up – or almost. Filch was already there, at the Head Table, and she realised she had never seen him there before. He waved at her with a cheeky grin and she chuckled. She was surprised to discover that the irascible caretaker could be as mischievous as the seventh year boys. 

"Are you ready?" he asked her, coming to her place. 

"I just need to brush my teeth and get Crookshanks." 

"Alright. Meet me at my office then?" 

"I'll be there in ten minutes," she promised. 

She encountered Harry and Ron on her way out and claimed she had to go to the library before running away. Crookshanks was almost clawing at her while she was brushing her teeth. 

"Let's go, Crooks. Mr. Filch is waiting for us." 

A few moments later, she was knocking at the door of Filch's office and they left immediately. 

Three hours later, they still had no clue as for where could be Professor Snape and Mrs. Norris. They had encountered students and each time, Filch had taken a nasty voice, lecturing Hermione about her letting her cat wander around. She had had a hard time swallowing her laugh. Everybody had thrown a compassionate glance to Hermione – except the Slytherins. 

They rested a moment in an unfrequented corridor. 

"Just remind me why we didn't ask the teachers," Hermione said, breathing heavily, feeling like his limbs were loaded with lead. 

"Because they wouldn't care. Professor Snape is a grown man and nobody likes him very much on the staff. As for Mrs. Norris, I suspect pretty much everybody would like for her to be dead. And we have no proof they didn't disappear of their own will." 

"If only we had… Gods! I can't believe I've forgotten about that. Mr. Filch, can we go back to your office, please? I have an idea." 

"What is it?" 

"The Marauder's Map." 

~*~

Puzzled, Filch led her back to his office. She went straight to the filing cabinets, looking for the drawer marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'. Harry had given to Ron and her the exact description of Filch's office in case they were locked in it, so they could retrieve the Marauder's Map since its disappearance at the end of their fourth year. She realised the scale of Filch's trust in her for he didn't even try to stop her as she opened the drawer. 

She rummaged through it for a moment before exclaiming triumphantly: 

"Here it is!" 

She brandished a large, empty piece of old parchment. Filch's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. 

"What is it?" 

She blushed. 

"The Marauder's Map. It's a big secret, Mr. Filch, and I'd really appreciate if you could forget about it just after." 

She took her wand and tapped the parchment with it. 

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." 

The Map was activated. Filch looked at it from above her shoulder and gasped. 

"Potter! He and his father, always up to mischief! I should–" 

"Here they are! Fluffy's room!" 

"And how may you know about Fluffy, huh?" 

"Mr. Filch, surely you remember that Harry, Ron and I went down there to get the Philosopher's Stone. Come, we must hurry. They probably have been there since yesterday." 

She pocketed the Marauder's Map after murmuring a quick: 

"Mischief managed." 

Filch was far too excited at the perspective to have Mrs. Norris back to care. 

They ran to the third floor, not even caring for the strange looks the students were throwing their way – especially with Crookshanks running smoothly behind them. The door was still locked, as Hermione remembered it. She aimed her wand at it, slightly nervous even if she knew that Fluffy wasn't behind it – after all, she hadn't seen him on the Marauder's Map. 

"_Alohomora_," she whispered. 

The door slowly opened. 

~*~

Elena nudged him awake with her foot. He opened his eyes and immediately glared at her. He slowly stretched his long legs before standing up. A quick glance around and he knew everything there was to know. 

"So, I see you still didn't come to your senses," he commented, sneering. 

"Severus, I–" 

The door opened with a slight creak; she turned around, wand in her hand, and cast a full body-bind on the unsuspecting person stepping inside the room. 

"_Expelliarmus!_" exclaimed a masculine voice. 

Two wands flew in the extended hand. 

"_Finite Incantatem_," the newcomer added, pointing his wand to the petrified person. 

"Argus?" exclaimed Elena, incredulous. 

"Thank you, Mr. Filch," said Hermione, gratefully. 

He gave her the two wands he had taken from Elena and she smiled at him. 

"Keep an eye on her, please, will you?" she asked. 

She went to the fourth person in the room. 

"Professor Snape. I'm glad to see you are unharmed." 

"Miss Granger, I thought you already knew the dangers of stepping forth in a room unsuspecting." 

"I do know, sir. That's why I wasn't alone. How did she manage to steal your wand?" 

"You may not believe me, Miss Granger," he scowled, "but I am human and when a woman throws herself at me, I happen to have a reaction slightly delayed by surprise." 

"I understand completely," she answered seriously. 

He raised his eyebrows, having expected a mocking laugh: Severus Snape, the greasy git, having women throwing themselves at him? It had to be a joke! But she didn't laugh at him. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him. She stepped back before he could push her away, a wistful little smile on her lips, and handed him his wand without saying a word. He didn't ask how she knew it was his. 

She turned around quickly as she heard quite a commotion. Elena had disappeared, leaving place to a skeletal cat with a dust-coloured fur. She tried to escape, running between Filch's legs. 

"Crooks!" 

The large ginger cat had even not waited for her cry and he pounced on the smaller cat, his jaws closing on the nape of her neck. Hermione smiled quite smugly and Severus, just for contradiction's sake, scowled. 

"Mr. Filch, I think you should take her. That is, if it's safe. If not, I can still petrify her and you could release the spell later." 

Mrs. Norris protested loudly and Hermione winced. 

"This is it! _Petrificus Totalus!_" 

Filch sighed and bent down to recover his cat. 

~*~

They found themselves in Filch's office and the caretaker even managed to find three cups for offering tea. Severus summoned the house elves for something to eat, as he hadn't eaten since Elena had kidnapped him. 

"Who is Elena?" asked Hermione, confused. 

Severus and Filch sighed at the same time. 

"Elena Norris–" began Severus. 

"Was at school with me… before it was apparent that I was a Squib," Filch continued. 

Severus looked surprised at his easy admission of his greatest shame. 

"She is an Animagus. Obviously, from what we discovered today, she hid as Mrs. Norris all the time." 

"You didn't know her form?" 

"No. Mrs. Norris appeared something like six months after I became the caretaker here. I never had a familiar before and I immediately took a liking to her. I named her after Elena for… well, never mind. I didn't know it was really Elena herself. I suppose she had a good laugh at my expense more than once," he concluded sadly. "The old fool so fond of his cat, because nobody else would ever talk to him, let alone care for him." 

Severus glared at him and he shrugged dejectedly. 

"But I don't understand… Why did she kidnap Professor Snape?" 

He blushed slightly and her eyes widened. 

"Well, it appears that Elena… decided that she was in love with me. She tries to catch my attention several years ago but it failed. I was by then fully in the middle of my spying activities and I had just spent six months in Azkaban. I had no interest in anything but my work and a way to redeem myself." 

Filch gasped. 

"Professor! You can go and tell things like this around! She's a student!" 

Severus had an odd smile. 

"Miss Granger is a bit more than a student. I do believe that Albus has some projects for her as soon as she graduates and anyway, she's known of my double life since her fourth year, am I correct, Miss Granger?" 

She nodded briefly, her heart beating frantically; had she understood him properly? Did Albus plan to ask her to join the Order of the Phoenix after graduation? 

"I will walk Miss Granger back to the library, Argus. Sort out things with Elena and remember something: she only thinks she's in love with me. In truth, she is not." 

Filch nodded miserably, looking at his still-petrified cat. Hermione gave him Elena's wand and gently patted him on the shoulder. Following Severus outside, she discreetly took out her own wand and murmured a quick charm aimed at Mrs. Norris. 

~*~

"What spell did you cast?" asked Severus casually as soon as the door closed behind her. 

She smiled sheepishly, bending down to gather Crookshanks in her arms. 

"A way to shorten the length of my petrification spell. I'm afraid I cast it a bit too strong for Mr. Filch to undo it on his own. He only learnt the spell yesterday," she added defensively. 

"I must admit that I was very impressed by his skills earlier today. I didn't expect it from him." 

"I know, that's why we planned it this way. We both knew that whoever had kidnapped you would go for me first, thus leaving time for Mr. Filch to come with something unexpected." 

"Brilliant witch _and_ strategist?" murmured Severus. "It's a wonder Potter took all the fame with you by his side. I would have expected you to outshine him." 

"Oh no!" she said hurriedly, her cheeks still pink from his compliment. "I had a taste of fame in fourth year and I really don't want it. I prefer comfortable shadows, where I can actually _do_ something without being watched at every move. Professor? Do you think it will be over soon? With the Death Eaters, I mean?" 

He looked down at her, realising the toll it was taking on her. He had known it would come to this, he had tried to prepare them for a ruthless world, but still it had robbed them of their innocence and carefree days. 

"I hope so, Miss Granger. I hope so." 

"I often wish I could go home to my parents and tell them there won't be any risk now of an attack on them because I'm Harry Potter's faithful friend. And, sometimes, I wish I could just have someone to hold me in strong arms and tell me over and over that it will be alright in the end." 

She sighed. 

"I'm sorry, I'm babbling about my petty unhappiness, when you bore so much more than me and still stand forth to fight." 

Awkwardly, Severus put a hand on her shoulder. 

"It will be alright in the end, Miss Granger. I promise you I'll do my best for you to live in a safe world." 

She shifted Crookshanks's weight in her arms and raised her hand to brush her fingertips against his. 

"I know," she whispered. "Since the end of fourth year, I've always felt safe when you're around." 

Severus had a wry smile. 

"Maybe you should go for a nap instead of the library. You are not your own poised self, as annoying as you usually are." 

She nodded in silence before looking up at him. 

"Professor? You like Mr. Filch, don't you?" 

He shrugged carelessly. 

"We are quite alike. Two old men, bitter, alone and disliked." 

"You're not old! And you're not as alone as you think." 

"There is no liking in this, Miss Granger. Argus and I tolerate each other because we probably are the only ones able to stand each other long enough for having a decent conversation." 

"It's not true. Look, you're having a decent conversation with me right now. And I know you can like people. I felt it when I gave you that hug earlier. I felt you relaxing slightly then." 

Seeing him getting angry, she added quickly: 

"Don't hex me into oblivion, I won't tell anyone, I promise!" 

He leaned forward until his brow was almost touching hers. 

"If you do, Miss Granger, I will deny it and Gryffindor will hex you into oblivion for all the House points lost by your fault." 

"Point taken, sir. Have a good afternoon, sir." 

~*~

Filch sighed again, looking at his cat. He took his wand and pointed it at her. 

"_Finite Incantatem_." 

Mrs. Norris snapped out of her petrification state. She hissed at him, narrowing her yellow eyes. 

"Would you please transform so we can talk?" he asked wearily. 

Suddenly, he felt old, each of his bones aching. She transformed and Elena sat in front of him. 

"I see you made some progress since last time we talked," she said spitefully. "I would never have expected you to turn against me." 

"I would never have expected you to do something forcing me to act so," he replied regretfully. "Why did you do this, Elena?" 

"You don't understand anything, do you, Argus? It's all about power! You never had anything to interest me. But Severus is a powerful wizard. He will come to his senses eventually." 

"He will not. He had a taste of power, Elena, and saw how wrong it was. He's still paying for this mistake." 

"Power is everything, Argus. You, a Slytherin, should know that better than anybody else!" 

"No, Elena. I'm not a Slytherin anymore. When I was one, I believed in power and pure-blood. When they cast me away, I had to learn everything again, from another perspective. Albus Dumbledore helped me in this and let me see that what I thought was right was terribly wrong. It's not because you're a pure-blood that you're better. It's not because you're a pure-blood that you have more power. Look, today, a Muggle-born witch helped me; she's powerful, Elena, very powerful! Professor Snape himself respects her. She had none of the arrogant attitude of the Slytherin students here. She understands what it means to be different and rejected. You don't. You're used to get what you want. I'm telling you this, Elena: you won't get Severus Snape." 

"Who's going to stop me? You?" she replied, laughing insultingly. "You can hardly cast a spell that a second year student masters!" 

Anger flashed in Filch's eyes. 

"Then why did you come to me? Why did you spend twenty-seven years as my cat if you despise me so?" 

"Because you had that stupid crush on me at first – it was a guarantee you would protect me no matter what – and then you were the only one able to come close to Severus, Argus. You and that fool of a Headmaster. But he already had his pet phoenix." 

Filch shook his head. 

"And in more than twenty years, you learnt nothing." 

He rose from his seat and came out of his office, closing it behind him. Elena was trapped inside, since her wand was safely tucked in Filch's pocket, along with his own wand. 

~*~

Harry and Ron waved at Hermione from the Gryffindor table when she entered the Great Hall for lunch. She smiled at them and sat besides Harry. She reached for the pumpkin juice jug and poured herself a glass before noticing the looks her two friends were giving her. 

"What?" she managed after swallowing her gulp of juice. 

"Terry Brooks saw you running in the corridors with Filch. What happened?" 

"Mrs. Norris," she said, busying herself with filling her plate. "There was a problem with Mrs. Norris." 

She could feel Harry's sceptical gaze on her. She quickly glanced around and slipped her hand in her pocket. 

"Harry," she whispered, "I have something for you." 

She shoved the Marauder's Map in his hand. 

"Now, be careful not to be caught with it or Filch will have my head," she hissed. 

Harry looked at Hermione then at the map. 

"Merlin, Hermione, how did you manage that?" 

She hid her smile behind her glass of pumpkin juice. 

"Well, I entered in his office, went straight to the drawer of 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous' items and took the map from it." 

Harry choked on his pie. 

"And he let you do it?" 

She shrugged. 

"Of course. I am Head Girl after all." 

The two boys looked at each other and burst out laughing. Harry hugged his friend, almost making her spill her glass. 

"You're the best, Hermione." 

She nodded, munching happily her mouthful of pie, glad that it prevented her to answer. 

As they came out of the Great Hall, the three Gryffindors stopped dead in their tracks. Filch was there, looking dark and angry. Harry and Ron gulped and cast nervous glances at Hermione. 

"Miss Granger, a word if you don't mind." 

"Of course, Mr. Filch," she replied, quite puzzled, feeling the panic of her friends. 

She smiled encouragingly at them and followed the caretaker. 

~*~

Filch didn't say a single word on his way to his office and Hermione began to think she was in serious troubles. Visions of carefully oiled manacles closing around her wrists invaded her mind and she shuddered. 

_Anyway, don't say you didn't deserve it, girl. I mean, how stupid can you get? You showed him the map and afterwards, you expected to walk away with it safely tucked in your pocket? Terribly Gryffindor, as Professor Snape would say._

Filch ushered her quickly in his office and closed carefully the door. Her heart sank. 

_Wonder if one of the teachers cast a Silencing spell on his office. He's going to let me hang in these manacles for a full week before torturing me until I confess where the map is…_

"Miss Granger, I'm sorry to request your help again, but would you happen to know a spell that would force an Animagus to remain into her animal form?" 

She blinked, swallowed and blinked again. She had a hard time registering his request. As she wasn't answering, he sighed and looked down. 

"I'm sorry, I knew it was asking a lot–" 

"No!" she interrupted. "Not at all! I apologise, I was surprised. You seemed very stern in the corridors and I wasn't expecting this. I don't know any spell of this kind, but I'll look in the library for you. Is it… is it for Mrs. Norris?" 

The caretaker nodded. 

"If she remains a cat, she won't be able to bother Professor Snape." 

"Unless she claws him to death," said Hermione, grinning. 

Filch slowly grinned back, not even caring for the slow hiss coming from Mrs. Norris. 

"Was there anything else, Mr. Filch?" 

"Yes, in fact, there is. You… are you still willing to help me with the spells?" he asked in a whisper, throwing wary glances toward Mrs. Norris. 

"Naturally! May I have a look at the Kwikspell program?" 

He nodded and brought her the courses he had received by owl. She examined them thoroughly, muttering things under her breath, shaking the head occasionally and scribbling some illegible scrawls in a notebook. Filch was beginning to get worried. 

Finally, she looked up and smiled at him. 

"I have everything! I'll spend the afternoon at the library and we will meet this evening, if it's alright with you." 

"Of course, Miss Granger. I will always have time for you." 

She looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected such a comment coming from him. 

"Right. Uh… well, I will see you tonight then, Mr. Filch." 

"Please… since we are going to work together, call me Argus." 

She gripped his offered hand and shook it. 

"Then I am Hermione, Argus." 

None of them noticed the hateful gaze the dust-coloured cat threw at them. 


	2. Lessons

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Lessons ~**

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Thank you for the reviews!

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Hermione gathered her courage and took a deep breath before knocking at the door in front of her. 

"Come in!" bellowed the silky voice she knew so well. 

"Good evening, Professor Snape." 

He looked up from his smoking cauldron and waited expectedly. 

"Well? What is it, Miss Granger? I don't have all day!" 

He already sounded annoyed and she almost wanted to turn around and run away. But it was not for her and she was a Gryffindor, after all; brave to death. 

"Uh… I wanted to know if it would be possible to use the classroom something like two evenings a week. It's for Mr. Filch, so I could tutor him in Potions…" 

"Are you trying to take over my work, Miss Granger? Or are you telling me that Argus asked you to tutor him in Potions rather than come to me?" 

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. 

"He didn't ask me specifically about Potions. He _did_ ask me about spells though. I thought it would be good to help him with Potions too; it's a different range of skills and it doesn't need foolish wand waving." 

"Am I to assume that Argus doesn't know about what you are asking me?" 

"Yes, sir. We are meeting this evening for a first lesson with spells and I wanted to tell him about Potions too if… well, if." 

He straightened up and crossed his arms on his chest, looking at her from head to toe, taking his time. She began to feel even more uncomfortable. 

"And why, may I ask, Miss Granger, did you think I wasn't able to teach Argus myself?" 

She reddened. 

"I… That is…" 

She closed her eyes. _Oh, Gods, I'm so going to die now!_

"Miss Granger, may I remind you that time isn't extensible, except if one possesses a time-turner?" he said dryly. 

"Because I was afraid that you would treat him the same way you treat Neville and I didn't want you to shatter his confidence," she blurted out. 

_He didn't yell at me yet… Maybe I'll escape alive finally…Argh, too late…_

"I see, Miss Granger. Except that Argus isn't a righteous Gryffindor and that he's certainly not as scared from me as Longbottom is." 

"As if it was Neville's fault," she muttered. 

To her surprise, he chuckled. 

"Gryffindor loyalty and hard-headedness. I see your point, Miss Granger. As your loving nature pushed you to help Argus, I cannot do less than let you use the Potions classroom for both your wand waving lessons and Potions lessons. If you need my help in anything, don't hesitate to ask." 

He couldn't have surprised her more if he had begun to sing opera. She looked at him with wide eyes, not even bothering to remark on the 'loving nature' comment and the sarcastic tone he had used for saying those words. 

"Thank you, Professor Snape, thank you so much!" 

He scowled. 

"No hug!" 

She laughed quite shakily. 

"No hug," she promised. 

She smiled at him and left the room almost running. 

~*~

Severus was present in the classroom when Argus and Hermione entered for the first lesson. He saw surprise flicker in her eyes, then sheer fear: she had just realised he was going to supervise her. Anger boiled through her veins, sweeping away the fear. Furious, she almost wanted to ask him if it would make her earn points for Gryffindor or if he was sure it was worth his precious time but she refrained of doing so when thinking of Argus. It was for him, so she shouldn't care for Severus. She forced herself to calm down and gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement; he smirked and she had the unsettling sensation that he knew exactly what had gone through her head. 

Argus looked bemused at Severus's presence and the silky drawl only appeared to make him squirm when Severus explained that he was here just to make sure everything would go smoothly. Apparently the caretaker took it like the Potions Master thought the room would explode just by Argus being in it. Severus understood it immediately and waved his hand dismissively. 

"Don't mind me. I have papers to grade. Just remember I'm here if you have questions." 

"He's not doubting you, Argus," whispered Hermione. "He's doubting me. A Gryffindor cannot be anything else but a walking disaster." 

Looking up at Severus, she saw his smirk widen and she scowled. 

The first lesson went smoothly. Severus looked up from time to time from his grading, distractedly listening to Hermione's soft voice – he assumed she didn't want to disturb him – and Argus's hoarse tone. He noticed her patience and her smiles of encouragement and shook his head. No wonder after five years of helping Neville. 

Argus and Hermione had lessons every evening and Severus was present each time, except if one of them had a detention. He watched her teach Hogwarts' caretaker about first year Potions and noticed the nervous glances she kept throwing at him. He never said a word, but his grading was more and more neglected with each day passing by until he even dropped the pretence of bringing the essays with him. He spent the whole lesson sitting at his desk, his fingers curled under his chin, staring unwaveringly at Hermione and Argus. 

The caretaker was making progress and, though he didn't show it in front of the whole school, he was immensely proud of what he could do now. He was amazed each evening that Hermione never hesitated to serve as a victim to his hexes or when he needed to test a specific spell or potion. For this, he was grateful to Severus's presence: it would insure that something could be done if things went wrong. Argus had grown very fond of Hermione and took malicious pleasure in punishing Draco each time he caught him bothering her. 

After each lesson, no matter how tired she was, Hermione went to the library and, for one hour, she looked for a spell that would trap Mrs. Norris in her Animagus form. After that, she went back to her room and studied for her own lessons. Sometimes, she read again from a book about Animagi, obsessed about solving this problem. She knew Argus missed the company of Mrs. Norris, but he could not run the risk of letting her loose in the school, if she could transform back into Elena. As she was dozing to sleep, she wondered each time why Elena had waited seventeen years before trying to win Severus. Maybe it had something to do with the death of Voldemort. 

~*~

Three weeks after having begun the lessons with Argus, Hermione was exasperated. She couldn't find any spell about the Animagi and she didn't think that going to Professor McGonagall would help. She almost considered asking Severus – after all, she was researching this spell for his own good – but clenched her teeth. He had offered help, in his offhand manner, but she would rather die than ask him. He would only belittle her more than he usually did. 

As the weekend came, she was restless. The lessons with Argus were not progressing as well as in the beginning and both Argus and Hermione were frustrated, especially under Severus's cool gaze. She decided she needed a break and took her cloak before going to Hogsmeade. If she was careful, her absence would not be noticed. Once at Hogsmeade, she simply Apparated in Diagon Alley. As soon as she had reached seventeen, she had applied to an Apparition licence and was very proud of it. She went straight to Magical Menagerie, where she had bought Crookshanks four years before. She soon found her smile back. 

The evening lesson with Argus was tense. He had difficulties with reproducing the correct way to wave his wand and Hermione was feeling the beginning of a pounding headache. She rubbed her temples fiercely, willing herself to keep her calm. Lashing at Argus wouldn't help anything, as he already was furious with himself as well and conscious of her frustration. She started when she felt a hard body against her back and a big hand closed on her wand hand. 

"Here, Argus, come next to me and do the moves with me," drawled the silky voice of Severus. 

She shivered when his breath tickled her ear and swallowed hard when his hand brushed her hip on its way up to her shoulder. He guided her arm in slow movements, Argus repeating them just after him, decomposing the whole gesture into separate entities that were easier to reproduce. After ten minutes – Hermione was almost admiring Severus's patience – Argus smiled and the tension receded as he managed the movement perfectly. Severus let go of Hermione's hand and stepped back. 

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him to thank him. They sat for a moment and Severus offered tea to everyone. They sipped their drink in silence before Argus said softly: 

"Thank you, Hermione. It means a great deal to me." 

She shrugged carelessly. 

"Thank Professor Snape. I would have broken something if I had continued any longer with this charm." 

"Speaking of it, Argus, the lessons will probably have to be less frequent. Miss Granger will soon need to study for her NEWTs." 

The caretaker nodded quite gloomily. He knew he would miss Hermione and after the NEWTs, she would leave Hogwarts. She stood up suddenly and gave him a tense smile. 

"I have something for you, Argus. Please wait here for me?" 

He nodded again and Severus himself couldn't find a reason to go away, feeling as curious as Argus. 

~*~

Hermione left the room and came back only minutes after with a basket in her arms. She put it on the table in front of Argus and smiled again, shyly. Argus opened the basket and looked in it. He gasped; there was a black kitten curled up in the bottom. He looked at the kitten, then at Hermione. 

"Hermione… a cat, it's…" 

"It's because you don't have the company of Mrs. Norris anymore. I thought you might want–" 

"It's perfect," he assured her, already cradling the kitten against him. "How old is he?" 

"Six months old. Is it… is it alright?" 

She sounded so unsure, as if afraid of having overstepped some boundaries, that Argus put the kitten back in the basket and hugged her fiercely. 

"Thank you so much," he whispered. "You shouldn't have, you've already done so much for me…" 

Above Argus's shoulder, she saw Severus looking at them, his eyes unreadable, then, when he felt her gaze on him, he turned his attentions to the kitten, trailing his finger on the soft head and under the chin, making the little beast purr. 

Argus let her go, mumbling apologies, and he cradled his cat against him again. Severus slowly stood up and took his leave. Hermione and Argus both wished him a good night but made no attempt at moving out of the classroom. He frowned slightly and stayed outside the room, within earshot. 

"Any news on the charm?" 

"No," replied Hermione. "I can't find a blasted thing! And I'm not so sure it would be a good solution. I mean, it would be robbing Elena of her life were we to block her in her Animagus form and it wouldn't really solve the problem with Professor Snape." 

"True. But Elena craves for power and she won't let him go." 

"He's too powerful for her. Argus, we need to find another solution. Trapping her is not a good one." 

"I know. But letting her assault Professor Snape every waking moment isn't either." 

Hermione chuckled. 

"He's able to care for himself, you know." 

Argus smiled sadly. 

"I know, but having Elena loose on him isn't something I can wish for him. Go back to your dormitory, Hermione. I will think about Elena." 

"Good night, Argus." 

The caretaker nodded and left for his office, his kitten still preciously cradled in his arms. 

~*~

"A cat! You bought a blasted cat!" shrieked Elena when seeing the black kitten. 

"I didn't buy him, he was a gift." 

"A gift," she sneered. "Are you telling me someone offered _you_ a gift?" 

Suddenly, Argus's eyes glinted with mischief. 

"Naturally, someone did. Not everybody is as obsessed as you are by power and worthless values. _She_ likes being with me." 

"Probably because she's as pitiful as you are." 

"You're wrong. She's a very powerful witch, and intelligent too, a brilliant mind. Professor Snape enjoys her company." 

"Severus? Now, I know you're lying! Severus is a loner, he doesn't enjoy any company, especially not the one of a woman!" 

"Oh, but he does! You should see his eyes when she enters the room! And tonight, he could barely repress himself from taking her in his arms, in front of me." 

He smirked as he saw the glint of jealousy in her eyes. 

"Who is she?" she hissed. "Do I know her?" 

"Oh, I daresay you know her! You met her three weeks ago. She's the young witch who came with me to rescue Professor Snape from your clutches." 

She narrowed her eyes. 

"She's too young for him! She, she doesn't know a thing!" 

"He doesn't seem to care for that," said Argus, shrugging. "He's fascinated with her young, eager mind." 

He knew when she took the bait and made a mental note of warning Hermione. Elena would be ruthless if she thought the young witch was a rival for Severus's affections. 

~*~

The NEWTs were still two months away, but Hermione was already studying as if there was no tomorrow. Both Argus and Severus missed the lessons, though Severus still saw her during Potions – and didn't miss an occasion to scowl at her, even though she only replied with a silent gaze before bending her head on her work. 

Argus resorted to wait for her outside the Great Hall, his new cat in his arms. It always made the students squirm as soon as they saw him, except Hermione, naturally, who always gave him a gentle smile. There were lots of wonderings about Mrs. Norris's disappearance from Hogwarts' corridors and also where the new cat came from. 

"His evil cat is dead!" grinned Ron. "Nothing to fear anymore when we're under the Invisibility Cloak and Filch will have a hard time catching us now." 

"Hopefully, we will be out of Hogwarts before his new cat is taught how to catch students," cheered Harry. 

Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered that she had to go to the library. Harry and Ron didn't even hear what she was going to study as they were already talking of Quidditch and the next game Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw. 

Two weeks after having stopped the lessons with Argus, Hermione was bored. Even though she was working like crazy, she missed Argus's timid smile and proud look when he had managed a spell or a potion and she missed Severus's silent presence. 

On Friday, Severus called her, telling her to stay after class. He waited for the last student to leave the room before looking up at her from the essays he was neatly organising. 

"Miss Granger, I… happened to overhear that you were looking for a charm for trapping someone into their Animagus personality." 

She closed her eyes and waited for her doom. He had heard it all, she had no doubt about it, and he was going to tell her to keep her concern for someone who would actually care. 

"Why didn't you think of potions?" 

"I… I did. But I was looking first and foremost for theories on Animagi, to see if there was any mention of such a charm or potion." 

"Why didn't you ask the help of a professor?" 

"I thought of going to Professor McGonagall, but I fear that she wouldn't have taken my question very well. And Elena is an unregistered Animagus. Only Argus, you and I know of it. I didn't want to spill her secret." 

"Then why didn't you come to me?" 

She squirmed a little under his velvet voice and whispered: 

"Because she kidnapped you and we thought you wouldn't want to see her again." 

"Why would you try to protect me? Am I so weak that I need you?" 

Hermione understood his last sentence in an insulting way – _am I so weak that I need a Squib and a Mudblood to protect me?_ – and flushed in humiliation. She kept her tone even with a great effort and looked up to meet his eyes. 

"Because Argus felt guilty for Elena's behaviour. Guilty and responsible, for Mrs. Norris is his cat. And he knew that if a spell existed – or a potion – he would not be able to cast it – or brew it. So he asked for my help. That's what friends are for, Professor, they help each other." 

"I think Argus already took the matter in his hands," said Severus with a smirk. 

"He did?" 

"What better way to bait a woman than use jealousy?" 

"Jealousy?" Hermione repeated, puzzled. 

Then realisation dawned on her and her eyes widened. 

"Of all the things to do! It's ludicrous!" 

"Thank you for your good opinion of me," he said dryly. 

"You and me? How can he humiliate you more? As if I could be a threat!" 

At first speechless, Severus quickly recovered his wits and chuckled. 

"The only matter is that Elena fell for it. Anyway, back to the original subject. Knowing how Minerva would have reacted to your question, should have given you clues on where to find information on it." 

"Dark Arts…" she whispered. "The Restricted Section." 

~*~

"In fact," he said, "it's so restricted that you won't even find anything about this in the library. The only place you can find them is here. I will lend you the book, Miss Granger, but I must insist that nobody sees it, especially Potter and Weasley." 

Hermione was beside herself. Nobody had ever heard Severus propose a book from his own library to a student. 

"Of course, Professor!" 

He went to his bookshelf, his fingers running lightly on the leather covers, and selected a dark red book. He held out to her and she read the title aloud: _Dark Arts and Potions – The Illegal Brews_. She looked for the author's name but to her surprise, found none. She looked up at him in expectation and he scowled, understanding her unspoken question. 

"I wrote most of the book but… Anyway, it doesn't matter." 

She looked at him quite puzzled. 

"Why are you helping me?" 

He came close to her and murmured: 

"It's only normal that I return the favour. After all, you are trying to help me, aren't you, Hermione?" 

He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. Her mouth was dry and when she looked in his eyes, she wondered how she could ever have thought them being cold and malevolent: there was a soft light in them that she had never seen before. His other hand took hers and brought it to his lips, gently kissing each knuckle. Her eyes widened. He pressed her hand against his cheek and almost closed his eyes when he felt her fingers brush gently against his skin. He buried his hand in her hair, his fingers slowly sliding behind her head, and she wasn't fighting him. 

The door slammed open and Hermione jumped back, guilt written all over her face. Elena was standing in the doorframe, looking at them. Severus cocked his eyebrow. 

"Yes, Elena? Can I do something for you?" 

She was glaring at them, especially Hermione. 

"I need to talk to you now. Send her away." 

"Miss Granger, our discussion is over," he barked. "I believe Miss Norris has a claim on my time now." 

Elena gritted her teeth. He had no right of making her feel like a student again! But she enjoyed his harsh tone toward Hermione. She walked purposely toward him. 

"Well, you heard him, girl! Go away!" 

Hermione looked at him with hurt in her eyes, then she straightened up and left without a word. 

~*~

"Argus told me you're infatuated with this little girl." 

"What Argus says and what I do don't have to be the same." 

"She's toying with both of you while playing the innocent! Sooner than later, she will ruin your friendship with Argus!" 

"Why so? Is Argus interested in her also?" 

Elena started at the confession but he kept looking at her as if he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. 

"I wouldn't know, but he has only praises for her." 

"Yes, I would imagine so. She's good for him actually. She doesn't care if he's a Squib or not, she seems to think there are ways to overcome that." 

"She's far too young for him!" 

"Miss Granger is very mature for her age. A boy would never meet her expectations. She needs a man with a knowledge as vast as her own and a thirst for learning more." 

Elena chewed furiously on her lower lip. 

"But you didn't come to tell me about Miss Granger, Elena. Pray tell me what is the reason of your visit and how you escaped Argus's office, since I was under the impression that he kept you locked in it." 

"He gave me this evening of freedom. How thoughtful of him. I am naturally under the strict orders of not doing anything harsh to you. He told me that were I to try anything, he would set your little girl on me and that I may not like it." 

"He's right. You wouldn't like it. The last Death Eater who tried to kill her, five months ago, caught her at a wrong moment and he's still at St. Mungo trying to be fixed up. I was very impressed." 

A cloud passed on Elena's face. 

"It takes a lot to impress you," she said, her voice slightly softer. 

"Yes, it does." 

"If you're impressed by her, I can't even imagine Argus's state of mind." 

"I think that 'honoured', 'beside himself', 'ecstatic' and 'proud' would only begin to describe it." 

"Naturally. She's Miss Perfect." 

"Actually, she has one default, beside being an annoying Know-It-All: she's absolutely abysmal in public relations." 

Elena smirked and was about to add something else when Argus opened the door and passed his head inside the room. 

"Elena, time is over." 

"Thank you, Severus," she said, caressing his cheek. "This conversation was most informative." 

~*~

Hermione closed the door behind her and leaned against the wall. She swallowed several times, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. She blinked furiously, refusing to spill any tear. She couldn't understand why he would treat her so callously just after being so nice. Then her heart sank: he hadn't wanted Elena to see them. No, worse: he had used her against Elena. He had said that Argus was using jealousy to bait Elena. Obviously Severus wasn't above such means himself. _He wants her and he's using me for that!_

Her fingers tightened and she was reminded of the book he had lent her. A book he had written himself. _Wrong way to go for the thoughts, girl! Stop it at once. The book is work, study, things you're good at. That will make you forget._ Of course, it would have been better if there hadn't been anything to forget. Her decision taken, she reduced the book and put it in her pocket before making her way toward Gryffindor Tower. 

She had to think of a reason why Severus wanted to talk to her after class so Harry and Ron wouldn't get suspicious. Just thinking of him brought new tears to her eyes. Cursing herself, she ran in the corridors, knowing he wouldn't be here to take points from her since he was… _busy_ elsewhere. On her way, she passed Argus who called her name and looked puzzled when she ignored him and kept running. He wondered what he had done to anger her so, then considered the direction she came from. _The dungeons… Professor Snape, Elena… Oh no! What a mess!_

He almost ran to the dungeons and opened the door. Severus and Elena were standing close to each other, talking in low voices. He felt his heart sink. 

"Elena, time is over." 

He watched her caress Severus's cheek and kept his face impassive. Behind Elena's back, Severus winked at him, but Argus didn't know whom to trust, except Hermione, since she was apparently as hurt as he was. For a brief moment, he wondered why he was trying so hard to keep Elena from Severus, since they seemed to go along quite nicely. Sighing, he accompanied Elena back to his office, cradling in his arms the kitten Hermione had given him. The little beast was his only comfort. 

~*~

Hermione was working like crazy. Not only was she very thorough on her NEWTs, but she was reading the book Severus had let her borrow plus she was working on a secret project. She felt like work would be the only thing that could take her mind off her current pain. Harry and Ron had a hard time dragging her to the Great Hall and she wouldn't stay with them, always excusing herself for a trip to the library. 

Two weeks after having lent her the book, Severus called her after class. 

"Did you find the potion in the book, Miss Granger?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Well?" 

"Well what?" she asked warily. 

"Well, when are you coming here to brew it?" he said impatiently. "Don't look so surprised, girl, half the ingredients are not easily found and we will have to use my private stores. Or did you intent to steal them?" 

She shook her head mutely and he sighed. 

"Do you know what to do?" 

A nod. 

"Then get to work!" he snapped. 

She hunched her shoulders and obeyed without saying a word. 

Severus sat down at his desk, grading papers, while she was preparing the ingredients. Two hours later, she still hadn't said a word and Severus had graded half of his stack of essays. He looked up at her, mildly irritated. Her head was bent down on her cauldron, her lower lip between her teeth, her brow furrowed in concentration. 

He silently came by his side, looking above her shoulder. 

"Is everything alright, Miss Granger?" 

She jumped back, her eyes wide-open, and he was struck by the fear in them. 

"Miss Granger?" he asked, perplexed. 

"Everything… everything is fine, Professor." 

"How long before the potion is complete?" 

"But it has to heat for five days, Professor–" 

"I know that, silly girl. How long before you're done adding the ingredients?" 

She bent down the head. 

"One more hour. You don't have to stay here. You probably have more interesting things to do than supervising my work. I can do this on my own." 

"Miss Granger, this is a potion in relation to Dark Arts. Do you really believe I would let anyone alone with such a potion?" 

She stared mutely at him and, instead of answering, added a new ingredient, as if he had never interrupted her. He sighed but retreated back to his desk. He knew better than to disturb someone creating such a potion. 

~*~

The five following days were a puzzlement to Severus. Hermione came each evening to check on the potion and stir it the required times, even adjusting the heat if needed. The whole time she barely acknowledged his presence, except for her nod of greeting. At the same time, Argus gave the evenings free to Elena and, surprisingly, Hermione always managed to leave the classroom before Elena arrived in the dungeons. It was as if she knew when to leave – but then, maybe Argus warned her. 

Severus didn't really mind Elena; she was easier to control than some female Death Eaters he knew, but he didn't want Hermione to get the wrong idea. He had enjoyed the lessons she had given to Argus and, though he still took great care in mocking her Gryffindor values, he admired her for them. Her indifference hurt him. He was used to hate, fear or the respect of his Slytherins, but never indifference. 

The fifth day, she came to bottle the potion. He had the hope she would stay a bit longer, since she needed to clean her work area and her cauldron. He observed her precise movements and was so enthralled that he let a blotch of ink fall on the parchment he was grading. He growled at his own stupidity and took his wand to erase the stain. When he looked up, Hermione was already at the door, a bottle in her hand. 

"Miss Granger?" 

He saw her shoulders stiffen and she slowly turned around to face him, her eyes fixed above his head. 

"May I have my book back?" 

She took the book from her bag, reluctantly stepped forward to his desk and put the book on it. He noticed how her fingers lingered slightly longer than what they should have and sighed when she left without a word. 

~*~

Argus almost bolted from his seat when he heard the knock at his door. Few people ever came to his office, so it could be only Severus or Hermione. He hoped for Hermione; things were quite tense with Severus right now, due to Elena, naturally. It was indeed Hermione and immediately, his concern for her flared up. 

"Hermione, you should–" 

"The potion. Here it is." 

She handed him a small bottle and almost shoved it in his hands. 

"Two drops every month," she said, her voice clipped. "When you don't have anymore, just tell me, I'll make a new batch." 

He gripped her hand before she could go away. 

"Hermione, love, tell me what is wrong," he said gently. 

She shook her head mutely. 

"Elena isn't here. Come in, talk to me." 

"I know, she's in the dungeons." 

"You react as if you care. Hermione, do you–" 

"I don't appreciate being used. I'm not someone you can toy with!" 

"Hermione, I'm sorry, I–" 

"It's not you, Argus. It's Professor Snape. At least, you're my friend and you don't put me in awkward situations – well, not too much. He doesn't have the same decency." 

"What did he do? I'll go talk to him at once!" 

She passed her hand wearily on her face. 

"Don't, Argus, it's pointless. If he thinks his tactics might allow him to get away from Elena, then so be it. It's not as if he has been considerate toward me earlier anyway." 

Argus nodded and understood that the subject was closed. 

"For the potion… if I want to stop it before the effects wear off…" 

"There is a spell for that. If you need it, just call me. Or Professor Snape. It's an advanced spell." 

He looked at the bottle in his hand. 

"Thank you, Hermione. I don't know if it will solve the problem, but…" 

"Use it wisely. I don't want problems if suddenly Professor McGonagall remains a cat for a month." 

He laughed gently. 

"It won't happen," he promised. "I don't want you to have problems because of me." 

"I wish you had told me that in my first year," she replied, teasing. 

She shifted uncomfortably. 

"Um, Argus, do you think you could lend me your wand for, let's say, two weeks?" 

He didn't even ask her why. He just held out his wand to her. She took it gravely and nodded in acknowledgement before leaving. Argus sighed and considered again the bottle Hermione had given him. 

~*~

He talked to Elena that very evening. She protested in front of his decision, arguing that Severus obviously didn't mind her presence. 

"Does he welcome you with open arms? Does he hold you all evening long?" 

"No, but I think he likes my company. Of course, he's sarcastic, but his wits have always been caustic." 

"I have seen him being gently mocking without being caustic. I think you need time to reconsider the situation, without seeing him." 

No matter how long she pleaded, Argus didn't change his mind. When she saw the potion, she threw a fit of rage, but Argus won the argument in the end. Despite herself, she transformed into a cat and was locked in the room at the back of his office. The caretaker drew a shaky breath, gathered his kitten in his arms and buried his face in the welcoming black fur. 

Argus was someone honest – so honest that he hated breaking the rules in any way – so he went immediately to see Severus in his dungeons. The dark-haired wizard received him with something like mistrust. 

"Good evening, Argus. What can I do for you?" 

"Hermione just gave me a potion for keeping Elena in her Animagus form." 

Severus cocked his head on the side. 

"Yes, I know." 

"Oh… Well, it's… it's an illegal potion, isn't it? Is she going to have problems because of it?" 

"No. If questions are asked, I'll cover for her and say it's a project she was doing with me." 

Argus eyed him suspiciously. 

"Why would you take the blame for her? It's not like you to protect a Gryffindor." 

"And it's not like you to even like a student," retorted Severus. "I know you wanted this potion to protect me. That's the motive you gave her anyway." 

"Considering Elena managed to kidnap you, maybe we were right to be concerned!" 

He looked at the Potions Master and added grudgingly: 

"She thinks you're using her." 

"Well, I am, am I not?" 

"No, she thinks you're using her to force Elena to make a move." 

Severus frowned. 

"I thought I was clear that I wasn't interested in Elena." 

"Your actions lately didn't make it clear enough obviously." 

The two men glared at each other then Argus shrugged and left the dungeons. 

~*~

Two weeks after and Hermione was still avoiding both of them. She had thought, during her previous years, that it was a hard task, mostly when one was sneaking after hours, but it seemed she had the knack for it now. She still saw Severus during class and the odd looks he was giving her did nothing to make her feel better. 

Noticing Severus's growing foul mood, Argus decided he had to do something. In a way, it amused him to see the secretive wizard losing his countenance for a Gryffindor he had critiqued harshly since her first year, but on the other hand, Argus could see the distress of both Hermione and Severus. So Argus tried to talk to her, almost dragging her to his office in front of all her fellow Gryffindors. 

"He's a good man, Hermione. He may have a difficult manner, but deep inside, he's a good boy." 

Hermione had a humourless smile. There was no need to precise who was the 'he' but it made her smile to hear Argus refer to him as a boy. 

"You tell me," she grumbled only half-heartedly. "I thought Elena and you were together at school and she doesn't look very much older than he is," she added, sounding genuinely curious. 

"Ah… it's because I entered Hogwarts quite late… I was in my first year when Charlie Weasley was born and I was already fifteen. Elena arrived at Hogwarts, two years after. At the end of my fourth year, I stopped. Everybody knew I was hopeless. Headmaster Dippet didn't really care for me, but Professor Dumbledore rescued me the same way he had rescued Rubeus Hagrid earlier. He made me assistant caretaker, under Apollyon Pringle's orders. Five years after, I became caretaker on my own when Elena graduated." 

Hermione made some quick calculations in her head. 

"Why did she become Mrs. Norris six months after her graduation?" she asked, puzzled. "Why would she choose to spend, what, twenty-seven years as a cat?" 

"Elena's father was one of the first followers of You-Know-Who and he wanted very much for his daughter to belong to the Death Eaters. He wanted her to be initiated, though she didn't agree with him. Personally, I think she indeed was initiated, probably as soon as she left Hogwarts. Have you noticed her left foreleg? It's frighteningly skinny; I believe she mutilated herself to get rid of the Dark Mark." 

"But they probably looked for her everywhere! And you had named your mysterious cat Mrs. Norris…" 

"Oh, I attracted some suspicions, but then, her parents knew of my crush on Elena – and they laughed at me. The Squib in love with a powerful pure-blood witch, it was amusing. It was also well-known that Elena despised me, even more than she hated her father for submitting her to You-Know-Who." 

"I thought she liked power and was in favour of the domination of the pure-bloods." 

"She does, but not enough to be willing to become You-Know-Who's slave. Anyway, I was left alone with my cat. Who would have been stupid enough to look for protection by the side of a Squib?" 

"Didn't you ever wonder why she was still alive after so long?" 

Argus had a thin smile. 

"Elena was brought to me by the Headmaster. When I noticed she didn't seem to age like a cat, I had some suspicions, but then, if the Headmaster didn't tell me anything, it wasn't my place to ask questions." 

"He likes to help people," she sighed. "Hagrid, you, Elena, Professor Trelawney, Professor Snape…" 

Then a sudden idea occurred to her. 

"You know you probably saved her life, calling your cat with her name? There are items that see past Polyjuice potions and Animagus forms and they would have revealed her true identity. But since you called her Mrs. Norris, even though they were indicating her real name, nobody noticed it." 

He looked at her and nodded, seeming to perfectly understand what she meant by the items she was talking about. Even if he hadn't said anything, he remembered the Marauder's Map. 

"Somehow, I don't think she'll be grateful to me." 

When she left, he noticed, thoroughly disgusted, that she had managed to avoid the discussion he had wanted to have with her. 


	3. Surprises

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Surprises ~**

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Thank you for all the reviews! Wow, I didn't think that casting Argus Filch would interest so many people!

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Jan McNeville: the name of the black kitten will be revealed in the next chapter! I promise :)

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Two days after, Argus and Severus both received a letter, asking very politely if they could be in the Potions classroom this evening at eight. It was respectfully signed Hermione Granger. Without knowing why, Argus felt excited. Maybe she was going to resume the lessons or she had a wonderful new idea. Severus scowled at the breakfast table and, when he looked up, his eyes locked immediately with Hermione's. He gave a slight nod without losing his scowl and returned his attention to his breakfast, only to find that he had lost his appetite. He left the Great Hall, heading for his classroom, wondering what was awaiting him in the evening. 

He was so preoccupied by it that he spent the whole day in a sort of haze that left the students puzzled. They were whispering, speculating as to why he was so absent-minded, and the suggestions became wild when he didn't deduct any House point or threaten with detention. Even his cutting remarks didn't have the usual edge to them. When Laura Madley, a fourth year Hufflepuff, spilled her potion just before bottling it, he simply said, his mind obviously elsewhere: 

"It's a wonder you managed to brew this potion in its entirety before spilling it, Miss Madley." 

Laura looked at him in wonder, gaping: he wasn't even angry! 

He almost forwent his dinner before reminding himself that he was acting like a nervous teenager. Calmly, he went to the Great Hall, sat down, scowling at Freya Thurisaz, the Ancient Runes teacher, and began to eat his dinner. At seven thirty, he left his seat and hurried to his classroom, pretending to occupy himself with grading the essays he had collected during the day. Five minutes after, Argus, equally nervous, entered his classroom. 

An antique clock chimed eight o'clock and Hermione wasn't here. Argus had begun pacing and Severus was rolling his quill between his fingers. 

"Maybe she was delayed because of something related to her Head Girl's duties," Argus ventured. 

"Miss Granger is never late," replied Severus dryly. 

When a knock at the door was heard, they both jumped. 

"Enter!" barked Severus. 

A terrified first year Slytherin poked his head round the door. 

"Sir, there… there's someone being murdered in Mr. Filch's office, sir! It seems the door is locked and even the older students can't open it, sir…" 

"Thank you, Mr. Higgs," said Severus curtly. 

Lawrence Higgs flattened himself against the wall when his Head of House burst out of his classroom, his jaw set in the way that promised troubles for whoever would be found in Argus's office. 

~*~

"I thought you had wards on your office, Argus!" hissed Severus. 

"I do!" he protested. "And Hermione added new ones to ensure Elena couldn't go away." 

They almost bumped in each other as they come to a realisation. 

"_Hermione_," breathed Severus. 

"And Elena," added Argus gloomily. 

"Hurry! I don't want to let them together any longer than necessary!" 

"Hermione is a powerful witch." 

"But Elena knew far too many curses from the Dark Arts even before she entered Hogwarts. I don't want to witness a duel between the two of them!" 

There were quite a few people in front of Argus's office, some seventh years trying unsuccessfully to open the door. Severus strode forward and everybody scuttled away. He looked at the door, scowling. 

"I suppose a simple _Alohomora_ won't work." 

"No, but Hermione charmed the wards so they would recognise teachers. I'm sure she included you." 

Severus put his hand on the doorknob, his wand ready, refusing Argus's offer of going first. 

"You take care of Hermione, I'll deal with Elena," whispered the caretaker. 

Severus looked at him strangely and had a thin smile. 

"Naturally." 

He turned the doorknob and stepped in. He was shocked by the scene in front of him. Hermione was on the floor, her wand at the other side of the room, a familiar-looking wand next to her, and Elena was towering above her. Argus pushed him slightly on the side and looked around him. 

"She cursed your wand, Argus!" shrieked Elena. "I swear, she cursed it!" 

She made as if she was going to kick Hermione, who didn't seem to be willing to defend herself. Argus lunched forward, grabbed the wand on the ground and shouted: 

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" 

Normally, this spell lasted only the time of a heartbeat when he cast it, but this time, Elena froze and fell on the floor. Severus was by Hermione's side, gathering her in his arms, murmuring her name. Despite his worry, Argus smiled lightly at the sight. Hermione looked up at Severus, then Argus, had a funny smile and murmured: 

"Aye, it worked…" 

She lost consciousness. 

~*~

"Close the door!" exclaimed Severus sharply, lifting Hermione in her arms. 

Argus snapped from the contemplation of his wand and obeyed, dragging Elena behind him in the room at the back of his office. Severus lay down Hermione on the couch and was surprised to notice that the chocolate eyes were open. 

"Now, Miss Granger, may I know how Elena was freed of her Animagus form?" 

"You called me Hermione earlier," she murmured, her eyes unfocused. 

He growled. 

"What happened?" 

But she didn't care for Elena right now. She turned her head toward Argus. 

"It worked, didn't it? You felt the power…" 

As the two men looked at her without understanding, she added: 

"Don't you see? Your spell worked! Usually it doesn't last and look, she's still stunned!" 

"What did you do?" asked Argus, looking embarrassed. "Is it because I was angry and worried?" 

"I cast a spell on your wand. It's an amplifier–" 

"Amplifying spells are very dangerous, Miss Granger," interrupted Severus. 

"I keyed it to Argus, sir," she said with a miserable voice. 

"So now, he's a powerful as Albus?" 

"No, sir. He's as powerful as… Ron, for example." 

He looked at her for quite a long time. 

"Do you know, Miss Granger, that what you just did is almost Dark Arts? I didn't think I would ever say that, but thank the Gods you chose to be Potter's friend rather than Malfoy's! Had the Dark Lord had you by his side, he would have defeated us without any doubt." 

Hermione didn't know if it was a compliment or an insult; did he mean that she would have given to the Dark Arts? 

"I guess you tested your spell on your wand first, which would explain why Elena couldn't use it," continued Severus. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Now, why did you free Elena?" 

"We were stealing her life, sir. She should have the right to choose. She spent already twenty-seven years as a cat. She probably wants to live her real life now." 

"Gryffindors!" said Severus, sounding disgusted. 

Hermione shrugged sadly, aimed her wand at Elena and murmured: 

"_Finite Incantatem_." 

~*~

As soon as Elena's eyes flared with life, she snarled at Hermione. 

"Argus, did you see what she did? She–" 

"Elena, you are wrong," Severus interrupted smoothly. "Miss Granger cast a spell on Argus's wand that makes him, well, almost as powerful as I am." 

"It's impossible! Nobody could do that! If it was possible, then the Dark Lord would have been invincible!" 

"What do you expect from the witch able to brew the Animagus Restriction potion in her seventh year? And cast the spell to nullify the effects?" 

Elena's eyes widened. 

"But… only a Potions Master can brew this potion! I thought _you_ brewed it!" 

Hermione gasped and she looked at Severus, dumbfounded. 

"Potions Master?" she squealed. 

"Yes, Miss Granger. The Animagus Restriction potion is only brewed by Potions Masters. The book I let you borrow isn't meant for Hogwarts' students or even apprentices. It's a book written by a Potions Master for Potions Masters." 

"But it means–" 

"It means, Miss Granger, that given you would accept to brew some more potions under my supervision, you could become the youngest Potions Master – Mistress – title that was until now entirely mine. But I'm afraid my esteemed colleagues Minerva and Filius would be quite disappointed were you to follow such a path rather than be interested in Transfiguration or Charms." 

She had a shaky laugh. 

"Transfiguration and Charms against Potions? There is no choice to be made. When can I begin, Professor?" 

It was impossible to mistake the gleam of triumph and pride in Severus's eyes and Elena felt something die inside of her. 

"Not yet, Hermione," he said, his silky voice reduced to a soft purr. "We will talk about it a bit later today, if you are agreeable. So, Elena, as I was saying, Hermione, being the powerful witch she is, cast an amplifier on Argus's wand, keying it to Argus. Hermione, I seriously wonder why you didn't take your NEWTs earlier." 

At first flattered, she quickly remembered what he was trying to do with regards to Elena and bit her lip. But Elena was only interested in power and making it sound like she, Hermione, was better could only discourage the other witch… She was lost, or else… 

"Argus, my friend, you will have to drop the Kwikspell course. It won't be enough for you. I would suggest you ask Albus for individual classes with the other teachers and then, well, we will have to find another caretaker." 

"Though I would have loved to see you punish Draco Malfoy the way he deserves next time he insults you because you're a Squib," piped up Hermione with a wicked grin. 

Argus at first was thunderstruck then he picked up the grin. 

"Oh! Malfoy is on for a surprise!" he said cheerfully. "Hermione, would you please…?" 

"The perfect choice," approved Severus, seemingly not noticing Elena's scowl. "She's quite well-known for her hexes and jinxes. I think a certain Ravenclaw, for example, still remembers her sixth year quite vividly. Of course, I'd have enjoyed it a bit more if she had been a Gryffindor, but seeing 'SNEAK' written on her face was priceless," he added humorously. 

"I'm glad you enjoyed it; some of my classmates didn't quite forgive me for it, though they knew not to meddle with me afterwards. How did you know it was me?" 

"There is only one student able to cast a jinx that would defy Umbridge and Poppy's abilities, Hermione, and I had no doubt that you were involved in Dumbledore's Army." 

~*~

"Malfoy will be green," Hermione promised to Argus. 

"Personally, I think blue would suit him better," said Severus offhandedly. 

Elena gasped. 

"Severus! He's a Slytherin and she's a Gryffindor! Where are your House loyalties?" 

"I've had to bear with Mr. Malfoy Jr for seventeen years, Elena. Not seven, _seventeen_. I'd kiss the first one who would jinx him for me." 

"I'd gladly jinx him on your behalf, but I forgo the kiss," said Argus cheekily. 

Hermione blushed under the heavy gazes from both Elena and Severus. She turned her head toward Argus. 

"Ready for a lesson in jinxes and hexes?" 

Argus accepted enthusiastically and they were both having a lot of fun with the jinxes, getting creative as for what to use on Draco. Severus was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed on his chest, a very small smile on his lips. He seemed to take a malicious pleasure imagining some of the hexes on the Slytherin student, obviously very entertained with some of the strangest combinations Hermione came up with. Elena was by his side, her eyes and face unreadable, her attention focused on Argus. Severus had to admit that he hadn't seen him so happy in a long time and somehow he knew Elena was thinking along the same lines. It was quite strange that the irascible caretaker could find pleasure in the company of a student – even though the ultimate goal was to punish another student – but then Hermione Granger wasn't any student. 

After half an hour, Hermione offered her place to Elena, who could hardly hide her surprise. There was some insecurity in Argus's eyes as Elena stepped in front of him, but he handed her wand to her without showing any discomfort. She curled her fingers around her wand with a timid smile and gave him the salute of the duellists. He replied gravely in kind and began to throw jinxes at her. As Elena was dodging them, Hermione came to lean against the wall on Severus's right. Even though he seemed absorbed by the dance in front of him, she knew that he was aware of her presence. 

"Why did you use me against her?" she whispered, her eyes on Argus's hands to verify the moves of his wand. 

"The higher you fall from, the harder the fall is," he said on the same tone. "Argus, don't become sloppy because your wand fixes most of your mistakes. I can't believe you set a layer of spells for correcting the mistakes of the wizard, Hermione. Why not make the wand move on its own while you're at it?" 

"Argus has a perfect control of the moves. It's the conviction for his spells he lacks. Why did you want her to have a hard fall?" she added in a murmur. 

"To shock her. I think that she was shocked enough. She's on her way to realise that she would lose me rather than Argus. After all, it's hard to lose someone you've lived twenty-seven years with, especially that Argus was always fond of his cat. By the way, I don't think you could have given him a better gift than the kitten." 

She shrugged uneasily and had a look at Argus and Elena. 

"I better go. There's no need for me to twist the knife in the wound." 

Before he could answer, she slid out of the room; Argus and Elena didn't even notice her disappearance. 

~*~

Three days after, Hermione was on her way to Transfiguration just after breakfast when she saw quite a commotion in the corridors. Sighing, she checked she had her Head Girl badge properly pinned on her robes and made her way through the rows of students. Recognising her, they let her pass easily and she stopped dead when seeing Argus face to face with Draco and his two bodyguards. 

"No magic in the corridors, Mr. Malfoy," said Argus with an ugly sneer. 

Hearing his nasty tone was quite a shock to Hermione since she was so used to the gentle and caring Argus. 

"I warned you over and over, Mr. Malfoy," he continued, his voice even. 

Draco sneered back. 

"As if there was something you could do to make me stop! What are you giving me for punishment? Cleaning the Trophy room by hand? I'm scared." 

Draco didn't understand immediately the sudden smile that lit Argus's face, but he understood when the caretaker whipped his wand, aimed it at him and fired three hexes at him before he could react. Draco fell on the floor. 

"That's for teaching you politeness, Mr. Malfoy," said Argus with a smirk, his hands wand-free again. "Now, for your initial offence, I suggest we go see Professor McGonagall." 

Despite his legs hit with the Jelly-Legs jinx, Draco was dragged by Argus through the crowd of students in direction of Professor McGonagall's office. Passing near Hermione, the caretaker made as if he had just seen her. 

"Miss Granger! Does the Head Girl have something to say on the matter?" 

"Oh no, Mr. Filch! Please proceed, you are handling the situation perfectly." 

"I am so glad to have your approval, Miss Granger," he said. "See you later, angel," he added in a soft whisper. 

During this time, dragged by the collar of his robes and jumper, Draco was counting his curses. Jelly-Legs, check one. Furnunculus, check two. But he couldn't find a third one. He quickly ran a hand on his behind to make sure that he hadn't grown a pigtail and was reassured. Satisfied – the two curses, even if they shouldn't be combined together, were quite easily cured by Madam Pomfrey – he recovered his arrogant smirk. It would not be said that a Malfoy had been defeated by a mere Squib! 

Then a voice coated in velvet malevolence spoke softly in his ear: 

"Do not worry, Mr. Malfoy. I _do_ know to count to three but I have waited a long time for this and it is well-known that one should never take revenge on the heat of the moment. Wait and _see_, Mr. Malfoy." 

Despite himself, Draco shivered. 

~*~

Minerva McGonagall opened wide eyes when she saw Argus and Draco enter her office. 

"What happened, Argus? Why isn't Mr. Malfoy in the infirmary?" 

"Mr. Malfoy was caught using magic in the corridors, Professor McGonagall. I assigned him a detention with you." 

"Where is the other culprit, then? I doubt Mr. Malfoy was caught on his own, seeing the state he's in!" 

"His current state is my doing, Professor. Surely there is no rule forbidding _me_ to use magic in the corridors?" 

"But… Never mind. Mr. Malfoy! Tomorrow evening at eight in my office! Do not be late and now, go see Madam Pomfrey for taking care of this." 

As soon as the door closed on Draco, she turned toward Argus. 

"What does it mean, Argus? Last time I knew, you couldn't perform such spells." 

"You forget the Kwikspell courses, Professor," he said smoothly. 

"Be serious, Argus!" she replied crisply. "I know this course and you would go quicker if you were reading backwards a book about Transfiguration written in hieroglyphs!" 

"Someone changed my life, Professor," he said, beaming. 

She almost gagged. 

"How… wonderful, Argus. Now, no matter the identity of the lucky woman, surely–" 

"Hermione Granger," he interrupted happily. "I daresay you know her: she's your star student, a true Gryffindor." 

Her eyes darkened and she growled. 

"Hermione Granger and you… How ludicrous! If you ever harm the girl, Argus, I swear that no matter what the Headmaster promised you, you will regret the day you're born!" 

He replied with a laugh and she blinked. As far as she could remember, she had never heard him laugh so genuinely. 

"Did she cast a permanent Cheering Charm on you?" she asked, appalled. 

"Much better, Professor. She befriended me and showed me that I wasn't worthless. She gave me back my life!" 

She would almost have believed him – she knew Hermione, after all – but then she remembered his behaviour while Dolores Umbridge was Headmistress. He seemed to understand her thoughts before she even spoke. 

"A cover, Professor. How do you expect me to keep the students in row if they can come to me at midnight and ask me to help them find their way back to their dormitory? I built up my image of the mean caretaker, the same way Professor Snape built his image of the hateful Potions Master. He and I kept true to our role when Professor Umbridge was here." 

"You know nothing of Professor Snape!" 

He smiled slyly. 

"I was in Slytherin once ago, Professor, and I have eyes and ears. I often find Professor Snape when he comes back battered and bruised. He was my only friend for a long time and I would never do anything that would put him in danger. I guess my loyalty to Professor Snape could be compared to yours for the Headmaster. But now, I have a loyalty of an even higher priority: my loyalty to Hermione." 

She sat heavily, quite stunned. She had never heard Argus speak with such passion – not even when he was raving about tortures. 

"Wow," she said weakly. "Does the Headmaster know?" 

"He will soon if he doesn't yet. After all, he insisted for me to take the Kwikspell course." 

He was about to take his leave when she asked: 

"Tell me, Argus. How did she succeed where everyone failed during thirty years?" 

"By having faith in me, Professor," he replied softly. 

~*~

Hermione was already on her way to Potions, wondering why Professor McGonagall had arrived late to her class and why she had kept throwing puzzled glances at her during the whole time. She hoped she hadn't a smudge on her nose or something similar – or that Harry hadn't coloured her hair in pink, since he quite liked to do that to her. 

She took her usual seat in Potions. Everybody was already there when Draco entered. As soon as he passed the threshold of the classroom, his skin turned an ice blue colour. 

"Draco Malfoy. Our new – _celebrity_," said a velvet voice behind him. 

The whole class sniggered. Draco turned to face Severus who stood on the threshold, his arms crossed on his chest. The Potions Master cast a cool glance at the class, who immediately quieted. Hermione looked up at him with a gaze of pure adoration, while Harry took care of hiding his laughing face. 

"Is it that you don't know the way to the Hospital Wing, Mr. Malfoy?" 

"Yes, sir. Madam Pomfrey just let me go," replied Draco, puzzled. 

"Ah! So it's a curative colour. How… interesting. What were you doing in the infirmary if not taking care of this problem then?" 

"Mr. Filch cast several hexes at me, sir," he said venomously. 

"He certainly had his reasons then. Sit down, Mr. Malfoy. You already made us late enough." 

Putting his bag on the floor, Draco noticed the colour of his hands and jumped on his feet with a shriek. 

"What is it _again_, Mr. Malfoy?" 

"Permission required for going to Madam Pomfrey, sir! I'm… I'm _blue_!" 

"We noticed. You have half an hour, Mr. Malfoy." 

Draco left running and Severus took great care of avoiding Hermione's eyes lest he start laughing. 

The Slytherin came back fifteen minutes later, breathless, scared and furious. 

"You're still blue, Mr. Malfoy!" snapped Severus. 

"There is nothing to be done, sir. Madam Pomfrey says it will wear off on its own." 

Severus quickly suppressed the twitch of his lips. Trust Hermione to teach a nasty jinx to Argus! But then, something was wrong: Draco was lying – he wasn't good at it, no matter how often Severus had let him go after one of his lies. However, he wasn't really prepared for Draco taking his wand and aiming it at Hermione. 

"It's your fault, Mudblood!" he shouted in rage, as even the Slytherins were sniggering at the curious shade his face had taken. "Yours and your Squib friend's!" 

"_Expelliarmus!_ Mr. Malfoy, fifty points from Slytherin for insult toward a member of the staff. And do be quiet before I add detention with Mr. Filch for the rest of the year." 

Harry was ready to protest that Draco had also slandered Hermione, but she forced him to remain seated. He was thunderstruck to discover a light smile playing on her lips. 

"Oh, and Mr. Malfoy, five points from Slytherin for such a poor lie," added Severus. "Miss Granger, a word with you after class." 

Harry seethed with rage and Hermione's smile disappeared at once. 

"Yes, Professor," she said meekly. 

~*~

At the end of the class, Severus was sure Draco's skin was of a darker shade. As soon as the last student left the room – except Hermione – he closed the door with a flick of his wand and looked at her. 

"Miss Granger." 

"Yes, Professor?" she replied innocently. 

He laughed softly. 

"What _is_ this hex?" 

"Something I taught Argus two days ago. Elena helped me a little with some details. I created it especially for Draco. Did you like it, sir?" 

He laughed again and leaned back against his desk. 

"What does it do exactly?" 

"Well, it starts a pale blue and darkens a little with each hour passing by. By the end of the week, it should be navy blue. Then it will disappear progressively. You know, a spot here, another there. The full disappearance process should take two more weeks." 

"So during two weeks, he will have a blue and white polka dot skin?" 

"More or less, yes." 

Severus threw his head back, laughing heartily. 

"Why did he lie about Poppy?" he added once he had caught his breath. 

She smirked. 

"It's only visible to students. Madam Pomfrey didn't see a thing." 

"I saw it." 

"Oh, yes! Argus and you see it. I thought you would appreciate." 

"Poppy should have seen the remnants of the charm, though." 

"That's where Elena helped. She made the whole charm undetectable. And delayed in time. Nobody can accuse Argus, since we were all witnesses that Draco turned blue only when coming here." 

"He accused Argus and you." 

"Everybody knows Argus is a Squib and he had no proof against me. I created the jinx. Now, what people do with it is none of my concern. If someone happens to make it undetectable before it's used, I can't know it, can I?" 

"You should have been sorted in Slytherin." 

She shrugged. 

"I'm surrounded with Slytherins. I guess I finally took a leaf from their book." 

There was a brief silence then he said silkily: 

"Time for me to thank you properly for hexing Mr. Malfoy Jr on my behalf." 

She froze as he crossed the classroom and gently cradled her face in his hands. 

"This is your last chance now, Hermione, if you want to leave," he whispered. 

"No," she replied softly, locking her eyes with his. 

His lips brushed against hers and her eyelids closed slowly. He pulled back slightly, looking at her with her face titled up, her eyes closed, not fighting him, and leaned toward her again, his kiss a bit more exigent this time. One of his hands slid to her waist, pulling her closer to him, and her arms snaked around his neck. 

~*~

"I… That's not what I intended to do when I asked you to stay," he breathed, "but I got a little side-tracked." 

"I'm sorry," she said, laughing softly. 

She kissed him again, gently, and let her arms fall by her sides. 

"What did you want to talk about then?" she asked, serious again. 

"About you becoming a Potions Mistress. I talked with Albus and, needless to say, he's very enthusiastic, though quite intrigued at how I happened to know about your capacities and, naturally, he was thunderstruck that I would even _think_ of tutoring a Gryffindor." 

"How did you get out of this one?" 

"I just told him I would tutor Longbottom if it allowed me to make the rest of the staff die of jealousy," he said, shrugging, a small smile on his lips. 

"Liar. You would rather use him for potions ingredients." 

"Probably. Anyway, your apprenticeship. I told you that you needed to brew some more potions under my supervision. I have to brew a new batch of Wolfsbane Potion for Lupin. Does it suit you as a first official test?" 

"Oh yes! I'd love to know how to brew the Wolfsbane Potion. I hoped… you told me the Headmaster thought of me for the Order of the Phoenix and if I know some potions like this one, I may be able to help you and you would have some time for yourself." 

"Gryffindors," he muttered mockingly. "Instead of thinking of the fame she can have because she will be the youngest Potions Mistress, she thinks of the free time she will be able to give me. You're hopeless." 

But he pulled her against him and murmured: 

"Don't ever change." 

She said nothing at first but then curiosity took the better of her. 

"Will you let me borrow your book about the illegal brews again?" 

He laughed and released his embrace on her. 

"Yes, I will. I trust you will be careful, with the book and with… us." 

She nodded and, regretfully, left him to go to the Great Hall for lunch. 

~*~

The whole school had a great fun watching Draco's skin change colour. As he kept telling the teachers about his plight, he was regularly sent to the infirmary and each time, Poppy couldn't diagnostic a single thing. Some were already talking about sending him to St. Mungo. Actually, they were not considering sending him alone. The smile gracing Argus's features since Draco's skin turned blue unsettled many people. The teachers, not knowing about the jinx, couldn't understand it; the students had a better grasp of the situation, since Hermione had discreetly hinted that there was a long story of hatred between Argus and Draco and that the caretaker could only be happy to see the arrogant Slytherin humiliated. 

When the curse began to wear off, the students in class with Draco were careful never to look at him lest they laugh their head off and lose House points for 'provocative hilarity' as Severus put it. In the evenings, when the four accomplices were gathered, they grinned like crazy about the subject. One evening on two, Hermione was there, for half an hour or an hour before beginning her Head Girl patrols – or else she was studying advanced potions with Severus. The remaining evenings, the Head Boy – Justin Finch-Fletchley – did the patrols while Hermione studied for her NEWTs. Strangely, Severus was always present when Hermione spent her free time with Argus and Elena. 

They had decided to meet in Argus's office, where nobody would ever think of looking for them. Severus and Elena had cast new wards on the room so they could practice hexes and jinxes. When they had done so, Hermione had had a strange gleam in her eyes, seeing how well the two wizards worked together. It had disappeared as soon as Severus had smiled to her. Sometimes, he would go as far as fling an arm around her shoulders and she would nest her head in the crook of his shoulder. 

~*~

It seemed Elena had completely forgotten her interest for Severus, but neither Argus nor Hermione had. Hermione knew that there had been glimpses of Mrs. Norris around the castle and some students were scared. They had thought that Mrs. Norris was dead and seeing her again popped the question if cats could become ghosts, especially that Argus was prowling the corridors with his new kitten in his arms or on his shoulder, the tiny claws buried deep in his shirt and skin. If Mrs. Norris wasn't with Argus and if the kitten was still alive, there was definitely something wrong. She wondered about where Elena's little jaunts took her and she was afraid to know. 

Argus was unaware of the rumours on his subject. The only rumours that he had heard until now dealt with his ability to communicate with his cat for catching students after curfew and the fact that he was a Squib. He could hardly conceive that the students would likely discuss his life and it was something that Hermione wasn't too keen on telling him. As far as Argus was concerned, he knew that Elena took some strolls in the corridors some evenings – after all, it was hard to break twenty-seven years of habit – and he simply hoped that her strolls didn't have the dungeons for destination, for his sake and Hermione's. 

Other than that, he was glad that he could have talks with Elena, mostly polite, except when she sometimes lost her calm and yelled at him – generally because he had failed doing a curse properly for the fifth or sixth time. Then he retreated into silence for the evening. He was delighted when she accepted to teach him some spells, helping the process of going through seven years of lessons. When Elena faced Argus on those sessions, Severus and Hermione watched them, quick to suggest new ways of teaching so it wouldn't get dull, and generally, Hermione ended up with her back leaning against Severus's chest, his arms around her. Elena and Argus would look at them and laugh gently, Elena sometimes casting a silly spell, like little hearts floating around. It always made Severus scowl and provided Argus with plenty of targets for practicing his vanishing spells. 

Argus had talked to Albus about his newfound capacities and though he hadn't dwelled on them, he was sure that the Headmaster had guessed some of the spells affecting his wand. The other professors had made him pass some tests, to evaluate where he was in the curriculum; to his satisfaction – and Hermione's – Filius Flitwick had found him more advanced than he was expecting him to be. Severus hadn't even bothered with a test: after all, he had been present to all the sessions. Naturally, now, all the teachers had given Argus work to do and every evening, he would go through it with Elena and with Severus and Hermione if they were present. He quite liked Potions and Herbology, to Pomona Sprout's great joy. Severus had muttered something about Neville and Herbology in Hermione's ear and she had shaken her head in disbelief, choking back her laugh. 

As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Argus hadn't even bothered to ask the current teacher, Emmeline Vance, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Instead, he had asked Elena and Severus. Hermione had noticed that the Potions Master was flattered – it was a sort of recognition after seventeen years of application to the post – but strangely he let Elena handle it most of the time. Hermione had the suspicion that he was trying his hand at matchmaking – as surprising as it could be to hear the words 'Severus Snape' and 'matchmaking' in the same sentence – to repay Argus and Elena of the one they had done for Hermione and him – not that he was complaining. 

~*~

Justin having cracked under the strain of study for the NEWTs and being at the Hospital Wing, Hermione had to take over his Head Boy's duties. She grumbled under her breath about pointless patrols but didn't complain more. Obviously nobody had realised that it meant more work for her. She thus patrolled her corridors every evening, taking more points than usually if she caught someone, for the disorder brought to her carefully planned revision sessions had made her cranky. Even Harry and Ron carefully avoided her in the morning but she would return to her usual bossy self around mid-morning. 

During those patrols, she had the curious impression of being followed. She turned on her heels several times, wand at the ready, but only empty darkness stared back at her. After two nights of feeling this invisible presence behind her, the feeling began to invade her dreams; she slept with her hand under her pillow, her fingers clenched around her wand, and she woke up every night, shaking, her wand pointed in front of her. She generally finished her nights in an armchair propped against the wall, to be sure nobody would come from behind. 

Severus had noticed the dark circles around her eyes, but he had attributed it to the stress of her studies. He offered her some Sleeping Draught and was utterly perplexed with her violent reaction to it. 

"Hermione, what is it?" he asked, frowning. "You look as if you expect me to jump on you and hurt you." 

She heard the hurt in his voice though he was doing his best to hide it behind his usual snapping tone. She had become good at recognising the emotions in his voice even when others could only hear spite and anger. Remorseful, she immediately went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

"Of course not, Severus," she murmured while resting her head against his chest. "I know you would never hurt me." 

She closed her eyes as his arms came around her. She felt safe in his presence. There was no disturbing shiver in her spine telling her that eyes were fixed on them or else, they were Severus's eyes and they always made her feel good. She snuggled closer and smiled when she heard his low chuckle. 

"To what do I owe such affection?" he asked teasingly. 

"To you being you," she mumbled back. "And it's the mushiest thing I've ever said in my whole life!" 

"So ickle Hermione has some difficulties dealing with mush?" 

"You think you're better?" 

"Naturally. I just have to scowl once or twice, growl a bit and everybody cowers away from me. The easiest way to make someone forget something is to scare the Hell out of him or her," he said matter-of-factly. "Though I don't advise you to try this on me, ickle Hermione," he added with faint severity. 

"I didn't even know you knew the word 'ickle'!" 

"Of course I know it. After all, I did hear the Weasley twins call their brother 'Ickle Ronniekins' enough times for me to remember." 

His hand began to stroke her back up and down and he sighed. 

"You need to go for your patrol so that you won't be out too late for the rest of your studies." 

"Hold me a bit longer, please," she murmured, reluctant to leave the safety of his arms. 

He frowned but complied. 

"Hermione, you would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?" 

"It's just my nerves, Severus." 

"Well, if you're sure…" 

She smiled at him and tugged on the lapel of his robes for a kiss before leaving for her patrol. And her disagreeable feeling of being watched very closely. 

~*~

She decided she would go on her patrol with Crookshanks. After all, she thought with a slight smile, it would do him good, to actually walk the castle instead of spending most of his days locked in her room. She couldn't let him wander without surveillance. Minerva had already complained about him; apparently Crookshanks had tried to drive her away more than once when she was in her Animagus form. 

The half-Kneazle looked surprised at the invitation, but accepted readily. Hermione knew she could trust Crookshanks: Kneazles were skilled in spotting suspicious people and Hermione had no doubt he would warn her if someone was around her. Crookshanks seemed to feel his mistress's anxiety and stayed by her side instead of running wild in the corridors as he usually did. 

She felt a lot better having her cat by her, especially that Crookshanks acted as if nothing was wrong. The disturbing feeling running on her spine was still here, but it felt more friendly than usually, though she told herself it was only in her imagination. _Nerves, you told Severus. Well, girl, it's time to face the obvious: you're on your way to break under the pressure. For the NEWTs. Yes, yes, no need to deny it. Hermione, you're pathetic._

Crookshanks only patrolled with her three evenings before she let him go wherever he wanted. By then, she had convinced herself that the feeling of being observed was just in her mind and that nothing would happen to her. It didn't prevent her to keep her wand in her hand during her patrols, but her nights were a bit more restful and she stopped keeping her wand under her pillow, putting it on her nightstand instead. 

She never heard the very soft steps behind her and she never saw the glowing eyes following every move of hers. 


	4. Shadows

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Shadows ~**

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Thank you for the reviews and sorry for the delay, I got caught up in **Salazar's Heir**!

Jan McNeville: finally, the name of the kitten is revealed! :)

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The tall, lanky silhouette retreated in shadows as the Head Girl passed on her patrol. The annoying half-Kneazle wasn't there anymore; it had taken some advanced spells to confuse him and convince him that there was nothing wrong around his mistress. The smirk on the face veiled by darkness was hateful. Hermione had caused too much damage. It was past time for her to pay and so the very soft, light steps followed her in every corridor her feet led her. 

An Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have been any useful to Hermione's persistent pursuer. The feet were silent on the floor, the slight noise made when the sole connected with the slabs being drowned in Hermione's own footsteps and breathing. The knowledge of the corridors topography was perfect, each dark corner made good use of, each shadow cast by a random armour hiding the suspicious silhouette that shouldn't have been there, and still Hermione was unaware of the danger. 

All the patterns of her patrols were known and the fact that Justin was still at the Hospital Wing wasn't a secret either. So Hermione was alone in the sleeping Hogwarts, walking with confidence now that she had overcome her unreasonable fear of being watched. Some half-asleep portraits greeted her and she replied politely, but none of them noticed that her shadow was singularly longer than it should have been. The only thing that could have given Hermione's strange shadow away was the slight glint of silver… but then, it could have been the reflect of a moonbeam. 

~*~

Draco had decided to revenge. In his sixth year, he had dated Marietta Edgecombe for two months – the time for him to extract from her the story of why she had had an attack of pimples spelling 'SNEAK' on her face – and he had no doubt as for the provenance of the curse that had affected him for three weeks. He had tried to get rid of it by himself, only to manage to turn the blue into Slytherin green, to the great delight of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws without distinction – and even some Slytherins, though they were more discreet about it. There was no doubt in Draco's mind that 'Mudblood Granger' was responsible for his three-weeks-long humiliation and it irked him to no end that a Slytherin pure-blood – even though he had turned out to be a Squib and no good was to be expected from a Squib in Draco's opinion – had taken lessons from her on hexes. It was simply inadmissible. 

So he waited for his time to come. He had learnt patience the hard way. He was so concentrated on Hermione that he never saw the four-legged shadow following her in the darkness. They were now on the fifth floor and had just passed the statue of Boris the Bewildered. He was hidden behind the statue and aimed his wand at Hermione. He was about to utter a curse when Hermione's shadow grew bigger and a lanky woman clad in red stood in front of him, a feral smile on her lips. 

"_Stupefy_," she said softly. 

Hermione turned the head when hearing the woman's voice and retraced her steps. 

"Elena? What is Draco doing here?" 

"He was planning on attacking you, in the back as the coward he is." 

In the darkness of the corridors, her yellow eyes looked even stranger than Rolanda Hooch's and Hermione shivered slightly. 

"He's a clever one. Rotten, but clever. He didn't plan his attack near the dungeons, knowing Severus would catch him and make him pay." 

"But what were you doing here? I mean, not that I'm ungrateful, but I'm hardly lucky–" 

"That from the girl who succeeded in attracting Severus!" said Elena, with a soft chuckle. "You are an innocent, Hermione, do you know that? You should ask Severus for additional lessons; he would get you rid of your trust worthy of a Hufflepuff. I'm following you, naturally. I have been since Argus cast that hex on Draco, as you call him. I'm sure you heard the gossip about my ghost haunting the corridors. If you had paid a bit more attention to it, you would have noticed that I've always been spotted in your vicinity. And it's not because of Crookshanks!" 

Hermione laughed. 

"Let's bring Draco back to his dormitory," she proposed. "And would you care to finish my patrol with me?" 

"You try to get rid of me, girl," Elena growled good-naturally. 

As Head Girl, Hermione had advantages and she was trusted for not abusing them. She levitated Draco to the Slytherin dormitory and used a special password to open to door. She dropped the blonde student on one of the couches and left without a second glance, not even caring to end the stunning spell. Elena slid his silver ring from his right hand and pocketed it, smirking at Hermione; it would make a good token for blackmail. 

~*~

They walked in silence for a moment, Elena often glancing at Hermione from the corner of her eye. She was feeling lost. For ten years, she had kept the pretence of being a cat to stay alive and away from Voldemort. Afterwards, she had met Severus and the young Potions Master, bitter and lonely, but immensely powerful, had appealed to her. She had observed him a long time before finally daring to come to him under her true form. He had rejected her and she had not understood then. She hadn't understood that he couldn't be close with someone with the Dark Mark, that he was risking his life everyday, that he already knew of Argus's interest in her and wouldn't wrong his friend. After several rejections, she had gone back to her disguise, waiting for her moment to come. She had thought it was time after Voldemort's demise, when seeing that his eyes didn't seem as haunted as before. She had thought also that maybe, he could help her with removing the mark on her left forearm. She thought wryly that kidnapping him was probably not the right way to catch his attention. 

Hermione felt Elena's heavy gaze on her and, fiddling with her robes, she asked: 

"You wonder what he sees in me, don't you?" 

"No. I understand. You're kind, caring, clever, with a temper to match his own, and you're powerful. I think you're exactly what he needed. Challenging for his intellect and power, genuinely caring without being all over him – you know Poppy and Albus often make a fuss when he comes back after having been under Cruciatus – and you accept him the way he is even though you know what he is." 

"You mean even though I'm a goody-goody Gryffindor?" 

"You're a good person, Hermione, and you accept him, even love him! That's what he needed to believe again in himself. He has always been a lonely person, even as a boy. At first, he believed in power, like me, because that was all he had. But the Marauders, you know… Somehow, he envied them. I mean, he hated James and Sirius, that was hatred at first sight on both sides, but he envied them for their friendship, for being popular. He despised himself for being so weak and willed himself to be strong, always. He thought nobody would ever like him, so he made himself even more hateful. But you changed that." 

"How do you know so much about him?" 

Elena smiled slightly. 

"Nobody pays attention to a cat and it's amazing what one can hear when the others think they're alone." 

Hermione grinned back but sobered for her next question. 

"Why did you follow me?" 

For a long moment, Elena was silent. 

"You're too trusting," she began, "and I've wandered around enough to know that not everybody likes you." 

"Understatement of the year," said Hermione with a snort. 

"After that prank on Draco, some were bound to take vengeance. I… Argus has been lonely for a long time, except for the company of his cat, lonely and scorned. I didn't want him to lose the only true friend he ever had. And Severus would have been devastated too. But they can't follow you everywhere. I can; it has been part of my job for almost thirty years now, to follow students." 

~*~

Hermione looked at her with an air that Elena couldn't fathom. 

"Do you care for Argus?" 

Elena sighed and passed a weary hand on her face. She hadn't expected the conversation to turn so personal. In fact, she hadn't expected to be caught at all. 

"Of course, I care for Argus." 

"Because of the powers of his wand?" 

"No. But I don't expect you to trust me. After all, I've hardly given you reasons to trust me, except stopping Draco, but you know Slytherins, they could do such a thing to use you later." 

"Elena," Hermione said sternly, putting her hand on the thin left arm of the older witch. "Elena, stop babbling. I trust you. You… you could have stolen Prof… Severus from me any time now but you didn't. You could have hurt Argus since you have your wand back, but you didn't. You could have hurt me badly when I freed you from your Animagus form, but you didn't. You helped me with the hex to cast on Draco. And you just saved my life." 

Elena grinned and shook her head. 

"You should have been in Hufflepuff," she said with a chuckle. 

"Much too foolhardy for that," Hermione replied lightly. "After all, I'm Harry Potter's sidekick. Anyway, back to Argus." 

"Yes, I care for him, but I don't want him to have the same reaction that you just had. It's not the power. It's listening to you three, seeing you interact with each other, watching how far you would go for each other. You did lots of researches for Argus and never asked anything in return. You went to ask Severus's help, though you thought he would refuse your request. You brewed the potion with him when you thought he was using you to win me… or am I mistaken?" 

"No. But I still don't understand why he played such a game." 

"He led me on. He let me think that he preferred me to you, even though he was praising you all along, explaining how good you were for Argus; he even mentioned he was interested in you, but I overlooked it at that time. I was irked that Argus, whose devotion I knew, could be swayed away by you. He had been mine for twenty-seven years and I didn't want a seventeen-year-old girl to steal him from me. Argus was right when he gave me the potion. I needed to think. I was confused. Well, the first two days, I couldn't think. I was far too angry for that. But after I did and I realised several things. One, that even if I had whom I thought I wanted – Severus – I wouldn't be happy because I would miss Argus too much. And two, that Severus would never be with me the way he was with you. He wanted you, had always wanted you. Anyway. It hurt, because I had fixed myself on him for so long and my hopes flared when he led me on. By the way, he didn't know you cared for him; he didn't think he was hurting you at the same time." 

"And Argus?" insisted Hermione. "I don't want you to hurt him, Elena. I cast the spell to set you free, but between him and you, I choose to defend him." 

"I know. I know! Jealousy forced me to open my eyes. I saw how you are with him. Severus and you treat him like any wizard, you don't care that he's a Squib. Not that's his fault. But after all the talks about power…" 

"Yes, I know. That's why I looked for the spell. That's why there are so many Squibs living among Muggles, because they're accepted there." 

"Severus told me about power and pure blood. He described Death Eaters' meetings to me. It's… It's so wrong." 

"Don't tell me," said Hermione darkly. "I was – and probably still am – one of their privileged targets. Muggle-born and friend of Harry Potter." 

"Yet you managed to catch the attention of an ex-Death Eater loathing Gryffindors and especially everyone related to the Potter family." 

"I think that when Harry will prove that he's not his father, Severus might stop loathing him so much." 

Elena looked at her quizzically and she smiled ruefully. 

"One can still hope," she added with a shrug. "Now, back to Argus." 

"Do you have an idea how I can show him I care for him, not for his newfound powers?" asked Elena, biting her lower lip. 

Hermione grinned. 

"I don't. But we may ask Severus. Slytherin minds are always full of ideas." 

Slowly Elena grinned back. 

~*~

Severus had a most devious idea. That is, once he recovered from the shock. He glared at Hermione. 

"I can't believe you suggested that." 

"Oh, Severus, it's only because I have the most entire trust in the brilliance of your mind," she replied with a smile she knew he couldn't resist. 

"Devious woman," he muttered. "Where are the Death Eaters when you need them?" 

She gasped. 

"You don't mean that!" 

He smirked at her and turned to Elena. 

"I think I know. Longbottom. You could tutor him in Potions. He's an utter disaster." 

Elena's eyes widened. 

"Why don't _you_ tutor him?" 

"I already have enough difficulties standing his presence in class – though he had the kindness of removing himself at the end of fifth year. And before you ask, no, Hermione isn't going to teach him either. She spent said five years helping him and thus staying beneath her natural capacities." 

Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and laid her head between his shoulder blades. 

"I knew you would have an idea! Thank you, Severus, you're amazing!" 

She pushed his hair on the side and put a kiss on the nape of his neck. 

"Hermione, I really _do_ hate when you do that and we're not alone, because I can't retaliate properly." 

Elena giggled. 

"You're cute together. But back to Longbottom–" 

"Cute? _Cute?_ I can't believe I heard that and applied to me! Severus Snape, Potions Master, evil, brooding and sarcastic ex-Death Eater, qualified of cute! It's the end of my carrier!" he exclaimed dramatically. 

"Alright, overgrown bat, you're not cute. You're dark and very, _very_ evil," said Hermione, soothing him. "Mean too. And bitter." 

"Don't forget prejudiced," added Elena. 

"True. Hateful, always scowling, cruel. Ugly also," Hermione said after thinking a moment. 

"Greasy. Ugh. Crooked, yellow teeth. Bad breath, maybe? Hermione?" 

"Hmm. I don't know," she admitted sheepishly. "Let's say I'm quite side-tracked when I have the occasion of verifying this fact… But maddening and irritating, yes, definitely." 

"I get the point, thank you, ladies. Don't get me started on your _qualities_, Hermione. I had seven years to yell them at you, I have good practice. As Elena said earlier, back to Longbottom." 

It didn't take them long to devise all the points of the plan – the two dark points being getting Neville to cooperate and Argus to notice. Somehow, Hermione seemed to think the first one was easier than the second. Severus was of the other opinion. 

"Argus isn't blind! He will notice and ask questions!" 

"Neville wants to be an Auror and he needs Potions. He would have taken Potions in sixth and seventh years if not for you." 

"Hermione, he didn't receive 'Outstanding' on his Potions OWL." 

She sighed. 

"I know. But he received 'Exceeds Expectations'. It was not that bad, was it?" 

"Of course not, but I accept only 'Outstanding' graded people. I have enough work with the dunderheads in the first five years without coping with them for the two remaining years." 

"Anyway, I'm sure Neville will be only too happy to work on Potions with Elena. Even with the NEWTs coming. He's a good student when he's motivated, Severus. You should have seen him in the DA meetings. And against the Death Eaters." 

"He still needs to grow a backbone." 

"Well, maybe Elena should teach him Skele-Gro as his first potion, then." 

"Stop fighting, you two. You don't even mean it. Thank you for the idea, Severus; Hermione, do you think you can arrange for Mr. Longbottom to meet me tomorrow?" 

"Of course, Elena. I will let you know." 

As it was late, they decided to call it a night. Elena left quickly, heading for Argus's quarters – where she was still living, no matter what – but Hermione lingered a bit. As she was regretfully going to leave the room, Severus stopped her. 

"I think you forgot something," he murmured. "I somehow got the idea that you needed to soothe my bruised ego after all the insults you hurled at me." 

She smirked good-naturally. 

"Of course, handsome devil." 

Severus chuckled and pulled her to him for a kiss. Or several. 

~*~

Elena entered Argus's quarters. She looked at the door of her own room – which had been added when her real identity had been revealed – and then glanced longingly at Argus's door. Taking her decision, she transformed into her Animagus form and entered Argus's room using the cat flap. The black kitten was curled up in the basket at the foot of Argus's bed. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. She had always hated the basket. She contemplated the kitten for a moment. There had been a time when she had been jealous of the attention he received from Argus but now it was over. She remembered when Argus had told her the name of his kitten. 

_"I'll call him Orestes." _

"Why so?" 

"Because he's a gift from Hermione and in Greek mythology, Orestes married Hermione. I can't very well call him Mr. Granger, now can I?" he added with a laugh. 

She also still remembered Hermione's reaction when Argus had told her of the name he had chosen. 

_"Orestes? Argus, Orestes killed Neoptolemus to have Hermione back!" _

"Well, love, you are worth killing for," he replied extravagantly, bending down to kiss her hand. 

She chuckled, noticing the scowl on Elena's face. 

"Be serious, Argus. You should better call him Mr. Norris, so that no student would be surprised." 

Elena's breath caught and, despite herself, she smiled at Hermione. 

She sighed and looked again at Orestes in his basket. In twenty-seven years, she had slept only one night in this basket. There was only one place for her to sleep. She jumped lightly on the bed and curled up on Argus's chest, purring softly. She ached to transform back into her human form and take him in her arms, telling him how much she loved him. But it was too early. Instead, she only murmured: 

"I love you, Argus." 

It came out as a soft mew. Argus sighed and shifted in his sleep. Automatically, his hand came to her, pressing her against him as he turned to his side, keeping her snugly in his arms. She nested her head against his neck and purred a bit more loudly, knowing it would reassure him. He smiled slightly. 

"Good night, my sweet," he murmured in a sleepy voice. 

She answered with another mew and she rubbed her head against his chin, before closing her eyes and falling asleep herself. There, in the nest of Argus's arms, she felt safe and content. 

To say Argus was surprised when he awoke was an understatement. He almost bolted from his bed. 

"Elena!" he nearly shrieked. 

The dust-coloured cat blinked sleepily and yawned before sitting on the bed and beginning her toilet. 

"Elena!" he repeated, clutching the blanket to him. "I could have been… well, not decent!" 

She jumped on the floor and transformed back. 

"What is it, Argus? I've lived with you for twenty-seven years; am I supposed to stutter like a teenager if I see you naked?" 

"It's different! I didn't know then!" 

"If I had wanted to take advantage of you, I would have transformed back last night," she pointed out. 

He didn't say a word, but the blush covering his cheeks was speaking loud enough for her. She sighed. 

"I see," she said dejectedly. "I suppose I won't have the right anymore to sleep in your arms like I did tonight? Don't answer, please, I already know what you are going to say. Well, have a… a good day, Argus." 

Draping her hurt dignity around her, she left his room and hurried in hers, leaning against the door and closing her eyes against the rejection. 

~*~

Hermione was surprised when she saw Argus the following morning. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. The caretaker whispered something to Severus, who glanced at Hermione; she shrugged in ignorance. As she had Advanced Potions that very morning, she quickly learnt what it was all about. 

"Elena in his bed this morning. As Mrs. Norris. He totally panicked," Severus whispered in her ear just before entering the classroom. 

As to make fun of her comments of the previous night, Severus began to teach them about Skele-Gro and Hermione frowned. He was changing his lessons plan and she didn't read this chapter before. She hated being taken by surprise. 

To Harry and Ron's surprise, both Hermione and Neville bolted down their lunch and ran from the Great Hall before the two others could ask questions. 

"Ron is going to kill me," said Neville with a wry smile. 

Since the end of fifth year, Neville had grown quite a backbone, contrary to Severus's belief. He was more assured, had admitted the truth about his parents without flinching – almost baiting Draco in saying anything – and had developed a smile that made most girls look twice at him. He was also a good friend of Hermione – which hadn't added to her popularity, since said girls were jealous of her – and was head over heels in love with Ginny. She had been with Dean Thomas during most of his sixth year, but then he had gracefully let her go when he had discovered that her heart wasn't really in it. She had waited two months before accepting Neville's attentions and since then, they had been together, though not many people outside Gryffindor knew the fact. 

"As if Ron could believe you would betray Ginny for being with me," she retorted crossly. "Grow up, Neville, Ron still has to remember that I'm a girl." 

Neville sniggered. They stopped in front of Argus's office. 

"Wait for me here, alright?" 

She slid inside. Argus was there, polishing the manacles hanging from his ceiling, while recriminating against students to a patient Orestes. 

"Hello, Argus. Is Elena here?" 

"In her room, I guess," he replied without looking at her. 

She sighed. 

"What did I do?" 

He frowned, confused. 

"What? You didn't do anything!" 

"Then why are you not looking at me? And why are you talking to me as if you want me to hang in those manacles?" 

"It's Elena. She… she's driving me crazy. She slept the night in my arms, as Mrs. Norris. Like before. And she seemed… disappointed when I told her she had to stop." 

Inwardly, Hermione groaned. Severus and she had their work cut out for them. 

"Oh, Argus. She slept in your arms for twenty-seven years. How can you think of depriving her of this?" she chided gently. 

"There's a difference between having one's cat in one's bed and having an Animagus woman," he replied stiffly. 

Hermione came to him and put her hand on his lips. 

"She came to you of her own will. Doesn't it say something to you? Don't answer, just think about it." 

Leaving him behind her, she went to Elena's room. 

~*~

Elena's room was Spartan. Severus hadn't taken much time when he had created it and she had never added anything else to it. The walls were grey, without any decoration or hanging; the floor was bare of rugs. The only furniture was a bed and a chair. Elena was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her back leaning against the headboard, a book open on her knees. She wore clothes too big for her that suspiciously looked like belonging to Argus. Her red robes were neatly folded on the chair. She looked up when Hermione entered and offered her a small smile. 

"Hello, Hermione. Is it already evening?" 

"It's lunchtime, Elena. What are you reading?" 

"_Hogwarts: A History_. Quite interesting. Boring to death as for the writing style, but the content is interesting. Too bad they didn't include the map of the grounds," she added with a cheeky grin. 

"You can suggest the idea to the Headmaster, I believe he wrote parts of this." 

She looked around and pursed her lips. 

"Did you tell Argus it was quite lacking?" 

"Not really. I'm afraid he doesn't realise what I need. I more or less stole those from him," she said with a wave toward the clothes she was wearing. "I'm using his bathroom when he leaves for his rounds; he probably thinks I clean myself under my cat form. I have spent too long as a cat, so my needs aren't that much." 

"And for your robes?" 

"I clean them myself. You know I can't ask the house elves to do that. They would report me to Albus immediately." 

Hermione shook her head. 

"You should come with me to Hogsmeade. You need new robes and new clothes. A glamour would easily do the trick." 

Elena smiled. 

"I'm afraid it would shock Argus too greatly." 

"Speaking of shock," muttered Hermione, "what about what you did last night? Anyway. Are you up to talk to Neville? He's outside, waiting for you." 

"He is? Why didn't you tell me?" 

They both rushed out of Argus's quarters and into the corridor. Neville turned toward them and gave them his lopsided smile that made the girls sigh. 

"I'm sorry!" gasped Elena. "I forgot time!" 

Neville's smile widened. 

"It's alright. I forgot things all the time." 

"I am Elena," she said, extending her hand. 

"Neville Longbottom," he replied politely, shaking her hand. 

"Let's talk about Potions, Mr. Longbottom." 

Hermione smiled and discreetly scurried away, straight to the dungeons. 

~*~

Even if the NEWTs were near – the examinations were in two weeks – Argus could notice that Neville spent some of his time doing something else than revising. He almost couldn't believe it when he saw the Gryffindor meet with Elena in the Potions classroom. He noticed the familiarity between the two of them – it had taken only one day for Elena to convince Neville to call her Elena instead of Miss Elena and she had agreed readily to call him Neville – and sighed in frustration. He went immediately to Severus. 

"Elena is in your classroom," he said tonelessly. 

Severus didn't even look up from the seventh year essays he was grading. 

"I know," he replied absent-mindedly. 

"With Mr. Longbottom." 

"Indeed. Elena tells me he's getting more and more confident." 

"You knew! You knew and you didn't tell me!" 

Severus looked up and cocked his eyebrow. 

"Told you what? That the woman you rejected is trying to find a way to keep her mind busy?" 

"I didn't reject her!" he protested hotly. "I–" 

Severus snorted. 

"That boy… Longbottom. He does have quite a lot of success with girls, doesn't he? I can understand why Elena would do that… After all, you are taken with Hermione. Why should I be surprised of her being taken with him?" 

Severus buried his head in his hands and groaned in despair. 

"Argus. Out. Now." 

As soon as Argus had left, Severus went to the Head Girl's quarters and knocked at the door of her bedroom. Hermione opened the door with magic, still reading and not looking up. 

"What a way to welcome me," he said ironically. 

She started. 

"Severus! You… you're not supposed to be there!" 

He sat down in front of her. 

"Hermione, you won the bet. Longbottom accepted to be tutored in Potions and now Argus is persuaded that Elena is in love with Longbottom." 

Hermione had a nervous laugh. 

"You're not serious, are you? Oh Gods, how blind can he be?" 

"I don't know," he said glumly. "But you won. What do you want me to do? Dance the tango at lunchtime in the middle of the Great Hall? Give one hundred points to Gryffindor?" 

"Oh no, Severus. I reserve my right to gather my winnings later. When the right moment comes, then I will tell you what to do." 

"Not fair. I'd like to know what to expect." 

"Don't worry. It's nothing humiliating. That is, I don't think." 

Suddenly, she looked worried. He leaned forward and took her hand in his. 

"Is it about us?" 

She nodded. 

"You… you are not going to ask me to let you go, are you?" he asked, swallowing hard. 

"Of course not!" she exclaimed immediately. "I would never let you go, you know that. You know that, don't you?" she added more softly. 

"Never hurt to make sure. But alright, I will wait. What are we going to do for Argus?" 

"Wait until the NEWTs are over. Then Elena won't have any reason to be with Neville, so maybe he will realise." 

Severus sighed and pulled her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head against his shoulder and continued to read, content in his embrace. 

~*~

Neville managed to meet with Elena one evening on two – the evening while Justin was on duty. When Hermione was on patrol duty, Elena was by her side, ready to protect her from Draco if necessary. They had found him on their way more than once, but he seemed to have learnt his lesson, for he didn't do more than glare at them. Of course, the fact that his own ring was hanging at Hermione's neck on a silver chain might have been one of the reasons why he didn't say anything, the other being the lamp-like eyes staring straight at him. 

Hermione had also respected her promise to Elena and had taken her out to Hogsmeade to buy her robes. Elena had protested all the way, but Hermione could be surprisingly deaf when she wanted to. It was no help that Severus had secretly approved her initiative. Elena had reluctantly chosen red robes, which fitted better her lanky frame than the ones she currently had, and Hermione had even managed to convince her to buy dress robes. Red also, but darker than those she usually wore. The young Gryffindor hadn't missed the occasion of teasing her about her taste in colours: a Slytherin wearing red was something she found extremely funny. 

On her free time – which she hadn't much – Hermione began her researches on a subject that she had in mind for quite a while now. She was intrigued by the Marauder's Map. It had always shown Elena's name – even if only her name as a cat – but Hermione couldn't remember ever seeing Hedwig's or Crookshanks's. But then maybe there hadn't been any reason for them to show up. She borrowing Harry's Invisibility Cloak without telling him so she could almost literally locked herself in the Restricted Section, though she knew Severus would have signed her a pass without any hesitation, but she was reluctant to ask for privileges. She borrowed the Marauder's Map also and made several tests. 

She had her hypotheses and wanted to verify them. She activated the map and concentrated on Crookshanks, willing to know where he was. His dot appeared suddenly, showing him sleeping in her room. Then she concentrated on Hedwig but, no matter how much she thought of the snowy owl, no dot appeared. She tried with different familiars but the result was always the same; except for Crookshanks and a few others, the familiars didn't appear on the map. Satisfied with that, she buried herself again in books and finally found the definite answer to her question: the Marauder's Map was built to show only magical people or animals. Crookshanks was half Kneazle, which was the reason why he appeared on the map. Hermione breathed slowly and thought that Elena had been lucky. The map could easily have blown up her cover. She hoped that no Death Eater – who Elena was afraid would find her – had such a map. 

~*~

Neville was brewing Polyjuice potion with Elena while chatting amiably, feeling relaxed. Elena had a small smile. _Obviously he is more at ease with a lanky woman in red than with a tall man in black_, she thought with amusement. 

"I'm done, Elena," he said finally, already beginning to clean his workbench. 

She saw a movement behind him and her eyes narrowed. 

"Then I will test it," said the silky voice of Severus. 

Neville paled and almost lost his grip on the vial he was holding. 

"Pro-professor Snape…" 

"What is it, Longbottom? You still haven't grown a backbone?" 

He didn't answer and continued to tidy around, shaking violently. 

"Polyjuice potion? You're going fast, Elena." 

"Believe me or not," she said lazily, her voice almost sounding like her purr when she was in her Animagus form, "but Neville studied the theory of the sixth and seventh year syllabi on his own. I just have to make him brew the potions for real." 

"He's not supposed to be able to study Polyjuice potion." 

Elena laughed gently. 

"Severus," she chided, "you might remember that Hermione received _Moste Potente Potions_ on her birthday. Since she probably knew it by heart on Christmas, she graciously let Neville have a peek at it." 

"Disgraceful," he replied, smirking. "Well, Mr. Longbottom, shall you prove to me that your tutoring sessions were actually of some use to you?" 

Quivering, Neville dropped a hair in the goblet containing the potion and drank it, his face screwing at the horrible taste. Severus and Elena didn't wait too long before Harry stood before them. 

"Congratulations, Neville!" exclaimed Elena. "I think you might want to ask the Headmaster if you can have a go at the Potions NEWT. You did a terrific work on your own." 

Severus couldn't hide his grin when seeing Harry shaking in front of him. 

"Good, Longbottom," he said, his voice like velvet. "I will be there for your next session. I know you're not an horrible brewer; now I want to know if you can work under pressure." 

Harry's green eyes widened in surprise and Severus smirked again. 

"Yes, Longbottom, the greasy git has actually some reasons to be as detestable as he is. If you can work under my directions, you can work in any condition, no matter how hard." 

The young wizard nodded silently. Severus turned around to leave and whispered at Elena's ear: 

"Does he know not to reveal your identity?" 

"Of course, he does, Severus. After all, I never gave him any last name. Nobody is that thick not to understand what it means." 

"You would be surprised," replied Severus with a small grin. 

~*~

The following evening, Severus was reading in his office when the door opened and Hermione threw herself at his neck. 

"I heard what you did for Neville! I'm so proud of you, Severus!" she exclaimed gleefully, proceeding to kiss him thoroughly. 

He eagerly answered until he caught a gleam of silver around her neck. He slightly pulled back, saw the silver ring and immediately recognised the Malfoy crest on it. He froze. Hermione looked up at him, confused. 

"Severus?" 

"Malfoy? How could you, Hermione? No, don't answer my stupid question: if you forgave me after all the miseries I brought on to you, why not forgive him as well? At least, contrary to me, he's good-looking, huh?" 

Her eyes widened at his bitter tone and the hurt in his voice. 

"When did you intend to tell? Were you even intending to tell me? How long has it been going on?" he continued. 

"Severus, no, it's not what you think!" 

"You don't know what I think!" he growled. "I thought you loved me, Hermione, how could you do this to me? Didn't I even deserve a goodbye?" 

Her eyes narrowed to slits and she slammed him against the wall with a newfound strength, her hand covering his mouth as he attempted to protest. 

"Hear me before condemning me!" she hissed. "It is _not_ what you think! I have this ring on the evenings I patrol but I forgot to take it off tonight because I was too much in a hurry to see you. I put it on only because it keeps Draco in check." 

She looked down, sadly, and let her hand slip from his mouth. He didn't say a word and stared at her. 

"I didn't want to tell you," she continued softly. "I was afraid you would be angry. One week and half ago, Draco tried to attack me, but Elena stopped him in time; she stunned him and left him in the Slytherin common room. She took his ring so that he would remember that he had lost against her. That's all, Severus, I swear! I don't care for Draco, I've never had. There's only you," she said, looking up at him pleadingly. 

He believed her immediately. He knew that she wasn't lying, he could see the love in her eyes. He closed his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm a jealous fool. Malfoy has a lot of success with the feminine population of Hogwarts and I guess… I thought you could prefer him to me." 

She tangled her fingers in his hair, rubbing her cheek against his temple. 

"Never!" she said fiercely. "He cannot hold a candle to you. There's only you. Only you," she whispered as she began to kiss his ear and his neck. 

He gasped quietly and tightened his embrace on her. 

"You, my love," he growled in her ear, "don't play fair." 

"Slytherins don't know the meaning of fairness," she replied, quite breathlessly as he proceeded to attack her throat with kisses. 

"Gryffindors are too predictable." 

"Neville," she gasped, trying to recover her wits. "I wanted to talk about Neville." 

Reluctantly, Severus pulled back. 

"Always reasonable," he chided her good-humouredly. 

She smiled and kissed him gently before stepping back. 

~*~

Severus passed his hand in his hair and sighed. 

"Longbottom. He made the Polyjuice potion and finished it yesterday, thanks to _your_ book." 

"Is it my fault if I have a passion for Potions and everything related to the subject?" 

"Everything or everyone?" he purred suggestively before continuing. "Well, his potion was correct, so I guess that Elena's tutoring is actually a success. I told him I would supervise him tomorrow." 

"You'll reduce him to a puddle of fear." 

"He needs to vanquish his fears. If he had had to face the Dark Lord, what good would it have been for him to be quivering and stuttering? And you never know, maybe the examiner for the Potions NEWT looks like me." 

"You are really going to let him sit the NEWT?" 

"Elena says he'll be able. I have to trust her judgement, don't I? Or else I shouldn't have let her begin the tutoring sessions at first." 

"You are wonderful, Severus!" 

"That's not what you said for six years," he observed mockingly. 

She shrugged at him and said regretfully: 

"I have to go. The NEWTs begin in two days. I need my rest if I want to be awake for them!" 

"Sleep well, my love, and I'm truly sorry for doubting you." 

"You weren't doubting _me_; you were doubting yourself," she said, frowning. "I'll have to work on that after the NEWTs. Be prepared, Severus…" 

She grinned mischievously and escaped before he could answer. Severus shivered slightly in anticipation. 


	5. Friendships

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Friendships ~**

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Thank you for your reviews! Sorry for the delay, I got caught up in real life and I tried to finish **Salazar's Heir**, which is now complete!

Shannon: ack! Thank you so much for telling me about my mistakes! I fixed them as soon as I received your review.

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Neville was not happy. Even though he had been overjoyed when Severus had told him he could sit the Potions NEWT, his joy had soon been tarnished by the unexpected reluctance from Albus to write down his name on the list of students. Neville protested fiercely, even claiming that Severus had agreed; Albus received the claim with scepticism and sent Neville on his way, refusing to hear more about the subject. 

Despaired, Neville wandered in the corridors until his feet led him to the door of the Head Girl's rooms. He contemplated it thoughtfully, not caring for the portrait who was getting quite annoyed to be so openly ignored. He still hadn't reached a decision when the Knight of the portrait huffed in impatience, threw on the round the huge sword he was using against the fierce dragon facing him, and disappeared altogether from the painting. Neville blinked when the dragon breathed fire, vexed that the confrontation had to be postponed. 

The Knight reappeared only moment later and at the same moment, the door opened on Hermione. 

"See, my lady, exactly as I told you! This young man should not be standing in front of your door in such a way. It could be very harmful to your reputation! I would have challenged him, but he didn't even deign to look at me!" 

"Thank you, Sir George, I appreciate your coming to tell me of the situation," Hermione interrupted softly. "Hello, Cinnabar," she added, gently tickling the red dragon behind the ears. "Don't get so fierce-looking, Neville is a friend." 

Neville, bewildered, looked at her, then at the painting, from which a loud purring was coming. Obviously the dragon enjoyed the attention, while the Knight was slightly sulking. 

"Thank you again, Sir George," said Hermione. "Every day proves again and again that the choice of your portrait for guarding the Head Girl's door was well-founded." 

The Knight beamed with pride before seizing his sword and turning to the dragon. 

"Stand forth and do battle, you foul snake!" he exclaimed belligerently. 

Cinnabar huffed in annoyance and Neville could have sworn that it was rolling its eyes. Then it breathed fire on Sir George, who jumped back. Hermione grabbed Neville by the arm and pulled him inside. 

"Come in!" she hissed quietly. "If you watch them, they'll be at it for hours and then they will have nothing to do except nurse their wounds. Believe me, you don't want to meet Cinnabar when he's wounded." 

"Er…" was all that Neville could manage to say. 

"Well?" she said with brisk efficiency. "What brought you to my door?" 

"Dumbledore… my NEWT… I was so proud, Hermione, so very proud!" he stammered, beginning to pace nervously in the room that served as an office. "I wanted to make Elena proud also and even Snape! But no!" 

"Calm down, Neville. What did Dumbledore say about your Potions NEWT?" 

Suddenly Neville stopped his pacing and faced her with a brief, bitter laugh. 

"In short, that I was delusional and that in no way Snape would have allowed me to sit my NEWT." 

Hermione frowned. 

"Didn't he ask for Snape to come up in his office?" 

"Nope. Nothing. And he doesn't want to hear about it anymore. So, you see, it's over before it even began!" 

"Shut up, Neville, will you?" she said between clenched teeth. "There's nothing that can't be fixed. Let's go see Snape." 

Neville blanched and backed up. 

"Are you crazy? He will only take points from us if we bother him with such a subject!" 

Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"And he's the big bad wolf who swallowed the three little pigs in one go," she replied sarcastically. "Honestly, Neville, do you even believe what you're saying? The man went out of his way to find you a teacher, he followed your progress without you knowing it and now, you criticise him!" 

"I thought _you_ went to Elena." 

She sighed in exasperation. 

"I'm Head Girl, Neville," she said as if it explained everything. "By the way, aren't supposed to meet Snape today?" 

"He's going to kill me…" he moaned, struck with horror. 

"Probably," she agreed readily. "I think I heard him say he needed some human parts for potions. It should be easy to transform you into potions ingredients." 

"Very funny. Alright, I overreacted. Since you insist, we will go to him!" 

~*~

"He what?" exclaimed Severus, very close to losing his calm. 

Neville was already opening his mouth to repeat it, but Severus raised a hand to stop him. 

"I know what you said," he grumbled. "Typical from Albus!" 

"Typical?" repeated Neville, trying his best to hide the quivering in his voice. "Are you saying he's evil, sir?" 

"I'm saying you're not Potter. No, he's not evil. He just dislikes having facts hidden from him. It's his way to lure me into his lair before making me confess everything." 

"Elena?" whispered Neville. 

Severus glared at him. 

"Maybe Elena, though Albus probably knew of her presence all along. It would have been surprising if no portrait or house elf hadn't told on her. But we will keep her out of this. If Albus asks you who was your tutor, Mr. Longbottom, you are to answer that I was. Due credit will be given to Elena in time. Now, I believe we have a potion to brew." 

Spidery scrawl appeared on the black board. 

"This is not a difficult potion, Mr. Longbottom, but it needs accuracy and attention. The times are very precise. I will let you start on you own as I need to speak with Miss Granger and as soon as you'll be done, we will go to the Headmaster." 

He opened the back door of the classroom and motioned Hermione in. 

"One last thing, Mr. Longbottom: if, like Elena claims, you did indeed learn the sixth and seventh year syllabi on your own, you probably recognise this potion and thus you know that any mistake in the times can be disastrous. Do be careful, Mr. Longbottom." 

He let Neville gaping at him and closed the door behind him. 

"What does the Headmaster want to know? Elena? I thought he knew about her being an Animagus! Should we have told him that she became human again?" 

"Or it could be us, Hermione." 

"Us? But–" 

"I know we have been careful but sometimes it's not enough. I don't know but I won't let Albus win this one, I promise." 

"We've done nothing wrong." 

"I know that, but Albus can be singularly narrow-minded as soon as it does not concern his precious Gryffindors." 

"I _am_ a Gryffindor." 

"You are, but you are not Potter." 

Hermione sniffed disdainfully. 

"His need for Harry ended with the disappearance of Voldemort." 

"Don't pronounce his name!" he hissed mechanically. "Albus has nothing of a war leader. He does not understand that some of the Death Eaters still free have enough will and charisma to start all over again. He forgets that Bellatrix is still free and even though she's grieving for the Dark Lord's death, it makes her even more dangerous." 

"Harry didn't forget," said Hermione darkly. 

"As long as he doesn't try to follow me under his blasted cloak, I don't care that much. Come, let's make sure Longbottom didn't kill himself." 

He entered the room to see Neville with a big grin on his face, turning careful a ladle in his cauldron. 

"From the look on your face," Severus said dryly, "I take it did go correctly until now." 

"Yes, sir," said Neville, unable to wipe the grin off. 

"I thought it was stipulated not to breathe the fumes, Mr. Longbottom." 

"I know, sir, but I can't hold my breath long enough when I have to turn the potion for more than a minute." 

"There are things that exist and are called masks, Mr. Longbottom." 

Neville just nodded, obviously not caring one iota for what Severus was saying. The Potions Master shook his head and chuckled softly. Hermione stared in disbelief at the situation. 

Half an hour later, the potion was finished and Neville's grin was bigger than before. Severus levitated two phials on the worktable and gave his instructions. 

"The first phial, Mr. Longbottom, is for keeping the potion at the exact temperature it is now. The second one will allow it to cool down very quickly. Of course, you already knew this, didn't you?" 

"Yes, sir," mumbled Neville, filling the phials and putting a lid on his cauldron. 

The fumes dissipated and Neville's euphoria disappeared at the same time. He looked at Severus in horror, but the Potions Master only smirked before taking the two phials and shooing the students out of the room. 

"Straight to the Headmaster's office, you two. And please do not eat any of those blasted sherbet lemons!" 

~*~

Albus didn't seem too happy to see them, but Severus made as if he hadn't noticed the slight frown on the old wizard's brow. 

"Is there something I can do for you, Severus?" 

"Indeed, Albus," replied the Potions Master smoothly, sitting calmly, while Hermione and Neville stood behind his chair. 

"Sherbet lemon?" asked Albus, offering the plate to Severus and motioning the two students who refused readily. 

"Thank you, Albus." 

To her stupefaction, Hermione saw Severus take a sweet and make as if he put it in his mouth… only that he didn't. The sherbet lemon disappeared somewhere in the Potions Master's pockets and the plate returned on Albus's desk, the Headmaster helping himself. 

"Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, Albus, but this very morning, young Mr. Longbottom came to you and asked you to put his name of the list of students allowed to sit the Potions NEWT. Unless I am heavily mistaken, you refused. May I know why?" 

"He didn't follow the usual programme," replied Albus, a slow smile appearing on his lips. 

The infernal twinkle was back in the depths of the blue eyes and Severus refrained from grinding his teeth. After all, everything was proceeding as planned. 

"I believe Mr. Longbottom told you he had my approval on the subject." 

Albus popped another sherbet lemon in his mouth and nodded. 

"He did tell me so. I was convinced that one of his fellow Gryffindors had hexed him. Are you here to tell me he didn't lie?" 

Neville straightened in anger: he most certainly hadn't lied! 

"Honestly, Albus, do you think that Mr. Longbottom would dare to lie about something concerning to me? Everybody knows, since his third year, that I'm his most terrible fear." 

"So now, you're going to tell me you took him under your wing and taught him all you know?" said Albus, apparently finding the idea very entertaining. 

"Actually, I did. Mr. Longbottom have had private lessons in Potions and has proved to be an apt student." 

Had Neville not been so outraged by the Headmaster's incredulity, he would have beamed with pride after hearing the first compliment he had ever heard his Potions Master utter. 

Albus opened his mouth to answer, unable to hide his mirth, and then stopped suddenly, frowning. 

"Why am I so joyful? 

"That, Albus, would be the result of Mr. Longbottom's brewing skills. I hope you appreciate them." 

He extended his hand and, without any warning, crashed a phial on Albus's desk. As soon as he breathed the fumes, the Headmaster beamed. 

"Perfect Cheering Draught, Mr. Longbottom," commented Severus. 

"Thank you, sir," replied Neville a bit puzzled when seeing Albus trying desperately to fight the unnatural cheer he was feeling. 

He managed to glare before his eyes sparkled again. 

"You win, Severus, but you will have some things to explain to me after the NEWTs." 

"With pleasure, Albus. Do not forget to add Mr. Longbottom's name to the list. I would hate to make a scandal just before the Potions NEWT but I will if necessary." 

Albus looked for a specific parchment, read the list already written on it, added a name at the end and handed it to Severus. 

"Does it satisfy you?" 

"Perfectly! Thank you, Albus, and have a good day." 

As soon as they were outside the Headmaster's office, Neville exclaimed: 

"He's never going to forgive me this one! He will change his mind during the day…" 

"Actually he won't, since he will be intoxicated with mirth for the whole day. I emptied the whole phial of cold draught on his sherbet lemons." 

To his horror, Neville would have sworn he was seeing a smile on his Potions Master's face! 

"That will teach him to eat so many sweets," Severus concluded as if nothing had happened. 

~*~

The NEWTs came and went, without any incident, except that the examiners for the Potions NEWT did look oddly at Neville and spent most of their time watching over his shoulder, which was very unnerving. Albus had made an appearance at the very beginning, but the forbidding presence of Severus, leaning nonchalantly against the wall, arms crossed on his chest, had made the Headmaster retreat. 

When the Potions NEWT was over, Neville sighed heavily and smiled at Hermione. He nodded discreetly to Severus and left the classroom. 

"Could we go thank Elena?" he asked. "I feel like I did wonders!" 

"About that… I was told that you completed the Polyjuice potion under Elena's supervision," said Hermione, frowning. "How can it be since she only taught you two weeks?" 

Neville looked sheepish. 

"Actually, I had begun before she started teaching me. Ron indicated me Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to conduct my brewing." 

"Boys…" muttered Hermione. 

Elena was glad to see Neville – especially since he refrained from asking why she could only be found in Argus's office – and the fact that he had felt confident during his NEWT made her clap her hands like a little girl. Sometimes, Hermione found an uncanny resemblance between Elena and Sirius. Both of them had had a part of their life stolen from them and they were behaving as if they were doing their best to catch up. Except that now, Sirius was dead. 

"Are you coming this evening, Hermione?" she asked, trying not to look too eager at the idea that the evening meetings would start again now that most of the NEWTs were done. 

"No, I have to patrol tonight," she replied glumly. "Tomorrow evening, though, you can count on me! And I should be quite relaxed, since the last NEWT is tomorrow morning." 

"We will all be there," Elena promised. 

Neville was listening with surprise, since he didn't know anything about the meetings between, Argus, Elena, Severus and Hermione, but he didn't ask questions. Neville had learnt – quite the hard way – that the less he knew about Hermione's business, the better he was. After thanking Elena once again for her tutoring, he left, without any doubt to spend some time with Ginny, who had been very understanding lately with his hard work. 

"Severus told me about Albus," said Elena, shooing Hermione inside Argus's office and then in her rooms. "Maybe I should go to him and tell him that I'm… back." 

"If Severus didn't tell you himself to do so, you probably shouldn't. He told me himself that Bellatrix Lestrange is still free and she might want revenge on you for whichever reason. It would be better to wait until the last Death Eater is in Azkaban." 

"It could be forever," sighed Elena, sinking on her bed. 

"But you would still be with Argus and Severus." 

Elena had a brief smile. 

"Are you going to leave by the end of the year?" 

"I don't know. Severus told me about becoming a Potions Mistress. He seems to believe that I could manage to achieve it during the holidays." 

"Would you stay after?" 

"I think I would like that. I could do some research, but then, I need to have some utility here." 

Elena grinned impishly. 

"You can still try to become an Animagus and patrol the corridors every evening!" 

When Argus came back into his office, he heard laughter from Hermione and Elena in the next room and he suddenly felt very lonely. 

~*~

As usual, Argus and Elena were already in the caretaker's office when Hermione arrived the following evening. Strangely, Severus was late. Thinking he maybe had to deal with some students, Hermione didn't worry and sat down before starting a new conversation with her two friends. Argus was telling, with humour, how he was progressing in his studies with the other professors – including the Defence Against the Dark Arts with Elena – but mentioned that Severus had been very busy this week and hadn't been able to give him any lesson in Potions. Hermione frowned, surprised, but before she could say anything, Severus entered the room without warning and strode straight to her. She stood up, afraid of the words he was going to say. He pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair. 

"Death Eaters," he mumbled. "Tonight. I have to go; there's a chance for me to catch them all." 

"Let me come!" she begged immediately. "I can ask Harry for his cloak and–" 

"No, love, no. I want you to stay here. I need you to be safely at Hogwarts. It's for you and people like you that I do this, so that you can live in a – relatively – safe world. I can't put you in danger while trying to accomplish this." 

Normally, Hermione would have argued until the end, but there was something in Severus's voice that prevented her from doing so. The fervour in his tone was not unusual – he let her see more of his emotions now that he had admitted his feelings for her – but the gentle pleading in it had never been here before. She hung her head in defeat. 

"As you wish," she murmured brokenly. 

"Severus, I'm coming with you!" said Argus with force. 

"Actually, Argus, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join me," said Severus cautiously, eyeing Hermione. 

A flash of anger passed in her eyes, but disappeared almost immediately. She knew Argus wouldn't be suspected like she would be. He was a Slytherin and he was known for his bitterness; the latter was a good excuse for joining the Death Eaters. As for the former… well, not all Slytherins were Death Eaters – and not all Death Eaters were Slytherins – but it certainly helped. 

"You will be a good element of surprise," continued Severus as he saw that Hermione had understood his reasons. 

"I can help too!" intervened Elena. 

Hermione's heart sank. She knew Argus wouldn't have the heart to deny Elena. 

"I'm still an unregistered Animagus and nobody will be surprised to see me with Argus." 

"Elena, it's dangerous. If you're discovered, you will be in great dangers and some wouldn't hesitate to betray you to the Ministry. Being an unregistered Animagus is not a good thing. Besides, Bellatrix–" 

"I know. But I'm not defenceless and, Severus, I still have that." 

She pulled up her left sleeve and exposed her inner arm. The flesh was scarred and torn but, still visible, there was the Dark Mark. 

"We will have things to talk about later, Elena, especially about that. But for the moment… Argus, it's your decision. You know her better than me." 

Hermione knew she had lost. Elena would go with them while she would stay behind, waiting and worrying. 

"Argus, please…" 

Elena had half a mind to use her touch to decide him – she knew the power she still had over him – but she decided it would invalidate her point. 

"I can help, Argus. I'm a good witch." 

Argus glanced at Hermione but she was looking down, her hair veiling her face. 

"I know," murmured Elena. "She's great, better than me. But Severus would be devastated if something happened to her. Whereas me… who cares? Hermione gave me back my freedom and befriended me. Can't I help in making her world safer?" 

"You can come," he said grudgingly. 

Elena smiled at him, a true, genuine smile, and he blinked. Behind them, Severus shook his head, amused despite the moment. He looked at Hermione. She had retreated in a corner, her arms wrapped around her midriff, and she was turning her back to them. He walked to her and pulled her to him. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured. 

She shrugged. 

"Don't think I like this medieval situation: the woman waiting patiently while the man goes to war!" she said, her voice thick. 

He turned her to face him and, without caring for Argus and Elena's presence, he bent down to kiss her, thoroughly ravaging her mouth, and she clung to him desperately. 

"Come back to me," she managed to gasp between kisses. "Promise!" 

"I promise," he replied darkly, almost bruising her lips. 

Suddenly, after one desperate kiss, he broke off and released her from his embrace. 

"We have to go. Now." 

She stopped him, her eyes set. 

"This kiss tasted like good-bye. No such thing, Severus." 

She brushed her lips against his, teasingly, knowing it drove him crazy. 

"Gods, woman, this is not the moment," he groaned. 

"This is a promise for much more when you return," she replied, her voice low. 

"Hermione, we never–" 

"Just come back to me, safe, and I will fulfil this promise." 

Severus never had the time to reply as Argus dragged him outside. 

~*~

Hermione was wandering in the corridors like a lost soul when, nearing Minerva's office, she had an idea. She was ready to knock at the door when a stern voice behind her startled her. 

"Is there something I can do for you, Miss Granger?" 

"Actually, yes, Professor. I have a question for you." 

"Very well. I wanted to speak to you also." 

The Transfiguration teacher murmured a password that Hermione didn't hear and entered her office. She motioned Hermione to take a seat; the young Gryffindor felt suddenly very nervous. 

"Miss Granger, I talked with Argus Filch the day Mr. Malfoy was hit with Jelly-Legs and Furnunculus. He told me about what you did, how you gave him back his faith in himself. I doubt anyone will ever thank you for this, since I know Argus is very little appreciated, but I wanted to offer you my thanks." 

"Um… well, uh, thank you, Professor," muttered Hermione, squirming in her seat. "It happens that I wanted to ask you something for Arg… Mr. Filch." 

"Certainly, Miss Granger. Tell me, did you teach Argus the hexes he threw at Mr. Malfoy?" 

Hermione nodded again, wondering if it would cause her to earn detention. Minerva looked sternly at her above her glasses. 

"Miss Granger, I've known you to be better with jinxes. Surely you could have taught Argus something a bit more… _lasting_ than Jelly-Legs and Furnunculus?" 

She took a deep breath and decided that honesty would serve her best if she wanted Minerva to help her. 

"Actually, I did. It was a spell that made Malfoy turn blue, but I made it invisible to the staff, except for Argus, naturally." 

To Hermione's surprise, Minerva leaned back in her seat and laughed openly. 

"Now I understand why we all thought Mr. Malfoy was becoming crazy! No wonder also that Poppy couldn't cure it. I recall something similar in your fifth year, Miss Granger." 

Hermione managed to look quite sheepish, though the light still dancing in Minerva's eyes didn't help her, especially that she didn't regret at all punishing Marietta Edgecombe. 

"One last question, Miss Granger. I know that Argus is now able to cast spells normally. The staff teaches him as we should have taught him when he was at school. But I know that Emmeline Vance doesn't teach him Defence Against the Dark Arts. Would you know who does?" 

"Hum, Professor Snape does, Professor." 

Minerva leaned forward. 

"And is he the only one to teach him, Miss Granger?" 

"Why… why didn't you ask Argus himself, Professor?" 

"Because Argus is a Slytherin, Miss Granger, and he knows how to lie, even though he doesn't like it. Which is not really your case." 

Hermione didn't answer and Minerva leaned back. 

"So, I was right. Elena Norris is back." 

Seeing the panic in Hermione's eyes, she smiled indulgently. 

"I will tell no one, Miss Granger, don't worry." 

"How do you know about Elena?" 

"You forget something, Miss Granger: I am also an Animagus and, though the fact is little known, I also patrol the halls at night. Except that I try my best not being seen by students. I know that Mrs. Norris disappeared, then reappeared, always in your shadow. At first, I was afraid for you, I must confess. But I was there when Mr. Malfoy tried to attack you and Elena stepped in to stop him for doing so. As a matter of fact, Miss Granger, you had two feline shadows that evening." 

Hermione paled, remembering the conversation she had had with Elena about Severus that night. 

"I didn't hear anything, Hermione," said Minerva gently, understandingly. "Your secrets are safe with me." 

"But you should–" 

"Maybe I should, but I won't. I trust you both. Don't make me regret my decision." 

Hermione shook her head fiercely. 

"So, about your question?" 

"Well, it's for Argus. Since you know about Elena… Is there a way for Argus to become a cat Animagus?" 

For a moment, Minerva was speechless. 

"I should have expected something like this. You never were the one to settle for easy tasks. Unfortunately, he cannot. That is, not as easily as Elena and I. I think that maybe there is a potion, but, if my memory serves me well, it's rather complicated to brew and to use. You would have to ask Severus as for this. What I do know is that there is a combination of Transfiguration, Charms and Potions that may solve your problem. It would require dedication. Are you sure Argus would be willing to study so hard?" 

"I think that he would love to find a way to prove to Elena how much he cares." 

Minerva's eyes widened slightly before she grinned suddenly. 

"Are you telling me that Severus and you are trying to play matchmakers for Argus and Elena? It's… it's… I have no word! I will help you, Hermione, this you can be sure of, and I'll recruit Filius also. Anything to see Severus playing matchmaker!" 

When Hermione closed the door of Minerva's office behind her, she could still hear peals of laughter come from the room. 

~*~

Quite satisfied in how the things went, even though she was puzzled by Minerva's reaction, Hermione went directly to the library. Nothing else could ever take her mind off the danger Severus, Argus and Elena were running into. She had barely sat down with a book that she was interrupted. 

"Hello, Hermione," said a tall black-haired boy, putting his bag on her table. "You're not as easily found as I first believed." 

She eyed him quite distrustfully and replied testily: 

"It's well-known that I'm always in the library." 

"Well, you weren't in the library fifteen minutes ago, nor ten minutes ago, nor five minutes ago. I know, I checked." 

"Why were you looking for me, Zabini?" 

"Blaise." 

"I beg your pardon?" 

"My name is Blaise, not Zabini." 

"And why would I call a Slytherin by his first name?" she asked crossly. 

"You don't call Snape and Filch by their last name, do you?" 

Hermione gaped at him and he sat in front of her with a disarming smile. 

"What?" she finally managed. 

He frowned, shaking his head as if chagrined. 

"Sorry, that was not how I was supposed to tell you. I'm seriously lacking in social skills and my memory about the niceties one is supposed to do and say is very bad," he said cheerfully. 

"Who are you? The Blaise Zabini I know does hardly talk at all." 

He pretended to be hurt. 

"I _am_ Blaise Zabini, Severus's cousin… or is it nephew? I never know. I'm abysmal as for genealogy." 

Hermione took a deep breath. 

"Alright. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" 

"I take it that Severus didn't tell you that we are related," replied Blaise easily, leaning back comfortably in his chair. "In fact, the Snape, Zabini and Malfoy families are related. A common great-great-grand-father, with more or less 'great' in front. You mean that Malfoy never told you the story?" 

"Malfoy does his best to talk to me the less possible." 

"Yes, yes. He's not proud of seeing his family ring around your neck. Anyway, the story. So, once upon a time, was a powerful wizard with three beautiful daughters. Of course, they have to be beautiful. There is no interest whatsoever in the story if they aren't beautiful. The first one was married to the horrible Lord Snape and it is said he was so ugly that the young bride-to-be almost fainted on her wedding day. Her father was sad to let her go, but there was nothing to be done against the pitiless Snape family. The second one, with naturally, even more qualities than her older sister, was chosen by the evil sorcerer Zabini, who was skilled in dark magic and voodoo magic. The grieving father would have liked to refuse the hand of his daughter to this monster, but who knew what he could do? And so he surrendered and let his daughter go. The third one, the youngest, the most beautiful of the three, the favourite of their father, fell in love with the dashing young Lord Malfoy, who also returned her love, and the father, though sad to see his beloved daughter go away, gladly gave her to this promising young wizard." 

~*~

"Charming story," said Hermione, now grinning openly. "I particularly like the fairy tale effect. Very nice. Was your ancestor really evil?" 

"Not really, but it's true that we are good in unorthodox magic. Straight magic is not really our forte. We do dabble in voodoo; I'm sure you would be interested in all the things you can do with needles. I take it you have heard of acupuncture?" 

"Muggle thing, yes, I know," she replied with a smirk. 

"Hush, don't say big words like this. We prefer to say it's coming from the old Asiatic magic. Anyway, the Zabini family is quite reputed for being able to practice acupuncture on voodoo puppets. So very useful. The women in our family are consulted by everybody for solving little problems, like backaches or headaches, and sometimes the men are consulted also, but for darker things. Contrary to the Malfoy family, we do let so called little people come to us for help. It's very lucrative." 

Hermione was hard put not to laugh out loud. Blaise was witty and funny, his voice taking different tones – disdained, scandalised, wry, practical, all of them utterly disabused – depending of what he was saying. Then he leaned forward to whisper with a conspiracy tone: 

"My favourite part of the story, apart of how my family was described of course, is the punch line, which, unfortunately, Malfoy never tells. This wizard, the father of the three beautiful witches, had also a son, who married and continued the family line. Now, would you guess the name of the wizard? It was Eoren Longbottom." 

"Longbottom? Are you telling me that Malfoy is related to Neville?" 

"Yes, he is. Severus and I are also. In fact, Severus was a good friend – as good a friend as he can be – of Frank Longbottom. I can't say he appreciated what happened to him and his wife." 

"Then why is he so odious to Neville?" 

"For the same reason he's lenient with Malfoy. Politics and then, Severus didn't have a happy childhood. From what my father told me, Severus quite believes in duress to form the spirit. I don't think he knew otherwise." 

Hermione thought for a moment. 

"Malfoy is related to the Weasleys," she said tentatively. 

"Yeah," replied Blaise with a wide grin. "That's a good one too. Malfoy hates it when someone reminds him of the fact. And that Sirius Black was his mother's cousin. What do you want, all pure-bloods are more or less related. We're all one big, happy family!" 

"Naturally. And I'm Salazar Slytherin's secret descendant," she retorted sarcastically. "Now, what is _your_ place in the whole thing?" 

"Oh, Severus told me he had to go away and wanted me to keep an eye on you. Things with Malfoy and such." 

Before Hermione could react at the fact that Severus had told Blaise that he was leaving even before he told her, Harry and Ron burst into the library, not even caring for the outraged huff from Madam Pince. 

"Hermione, you're with a Slytherin," said Harry in disbelief, staring at the dark-haired boy lounging in front of his best friend. 

"No, I'm with a very sweet Slytherin," she replied calmly. 

Blaise mock-gasped and straightened. 

"Sweet? _Sweet?_ Me? Slytherins are not sweet!" 

"Nice then?" 

"No! Neither sweet nor nice! Why not fluffy while you're at it?" 

"Considerate?" she suggested, a mischievous glint in her eyes. 

Blaise feigned to faint in horror. 

"Slytherins don't even know the meaning of that word!" 

"Polite and that's my last offer." 

He pretended to think. 

"Alright. I can be polite. I can do that." 

"Harry, Ron, you have your answer. I'm not with a Slytherin, I'm with a _polite_ Slytherin." 

She laughed gaily, stood up, looped her arm through Blaise's and sauntered away, leaving her two friends gaping at her. 

~*~

In fact, as Hermione discovered quickly, Severus could have dispensed with enrolling Blaise to watch over the young witch. She woke up in the middle of the night, startled by two loud mews. 

"_Lumos!_" 

She glared at Crookshanks, whose ears were flat on his skull. 

"What is this noise, Crooks?" she asked scathingly. "Maybe you didn't notice, but it's three in the morning and I was trying to sleep!" 

He mewed again, sheepishly, all the while keeping something firmly on the ground. Squinting at it, Hermione saw a bit of dust-coloured fur. 

"Elena?" she asked incredulously. 

The skinny cat wriggled under Crookshanks before finally getting free and turning into a lanky woman who glared at the half-Kneazle. 

"Do you know how hard it is to get to you? First of all, the portrait guarding your room refused to let me enter and he tried to refuse me access to the cat flap. His dragon singed my fur but then, this idiot of Knight recognised me and gave way. And you could have told me that you had protections against Animagi on your room," she muttered darkly. 

"I would have if I had known about them," replied Hermione evenly, making a mental note to thank Sir George and Cinnabar for the close watch they kept on her door, even though it seemed to be a bit too close. 

"I couldn't transform until you called my name. That and the fact that your furry ball was crushing me." 

But Hermione wasn't listening anymore. Elena's robes – greyish brown ones having replaced her usual red ones – were torn and dirty, she was shaking at times and a huge bruise was forming on her left temple. 

"What happened?" she asked, her voice suddenly hollow. "Where are Severus and Argus?" 

The eyes Elena turned toward her were full of sorrow. 

"I need your help, Hermione. They have been captured." 

* * *

Thanks to Jan McNeville for the idea of Argus turning into a cat! 


	6. Battles

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

* * *

**~ The Power Of A Squib - Battles ~**

* * *

Thank you for your reviews!

* * *

Hermione didn't answer, Elena's words still not registering. _They have been captured. Severus and Argus have been captured._

"I managed to escape only because they didn't really care for me." 

"You were under Cruciatus," Hermione objected weakly. 

"It wasn't meant for me. Argus was carrying me in his shirt, as he sometimes does… did. When they hit him with Cruciatus, I was hit too. The same goes for this bruise," she said, touching delicately the swollen mark on her temple. "I fell with him and well, I sort of cushioned his fall." 

"Where are they? How many are they?" asked Hermione feverishly while getting dressed. 

"Five at least. There's this zealot of Bellatrix Lestrange, Goyle, even though he doesn't seem very enthusiastic–" 

"Alright. Give me two minutes and I will be back." 

Elena stopped her gently, her hand light on the younger witch's arm. 

"Hermione, once again, you're too trusting. I could be leading you into a trap. I could be working for the Death Eaters." 

"Elena, yes, it's true, you could be all this. But then you wouldn't have told me and I won't begin the vicious circle of 'But I could tell you because I know you would be thinking that I wouldn't tell you unless I meant it' because it won't lead us anywhere. One thing I know is that the worry in your eyes and voice for Severus and Argus is genuine. And if my life is all they need to be free, then why should I be bargaining for it?" 

"You're crazy." 

"Maybe. Just expect Crookshanks to make your life a living Hell if you're trying to trap me, that's all." 

Shaking her head, Elena could only conclude that Hermione was hiding her concern by using a very tasteless humour. Any other reason would have been scary. 

Hermione was back several minutes later, looking grim, carrying a shining and silvery cloth on her arm. 

"Invisibility Cloak? But–" 

"I'm no Animagus, Elena, and being invisible could be useful. Let's go." 

They were already outside Hogwarts when Elena squirmed a little. 

"I can't Apparate with you," she finally said, looking ashamed at her admittance. 

"I know that," replied Hermione testily. "Just tell me where we are going." 

"North Scotland, near Inverness. Actually, it's on Culloden Moor. There's a cairn there." 

"The memorial cairn?" 

"Yes. In fact, it has been used regularly as a meeting place by Death Eaters. They created a maze of underground passages and that's where Argus and Severus are kept." 

"And it's protected with anti-Apparating wards, I guess?" grumbled Hermione. 

"Ah well, um, I may have done something about that…" admitted Elena with a crooked smile. 

"Why aren't they escaping then?" 

"Because they did cast an anti-Apparating spell on the cells." 

"Alright! Everybody ready, then?" 

"Everybody?" asked Elena, startled, clutching her wand tightly. 

"Blimey, Hermione, how did you know we were here?" muttered Harry, stepping out of the darkness. 

She rolled her eyes. 

"Be serious, Harry. As if you would have accepted to lend me your cloak had you not intended to come all along. You're lucky Elena was too out of her mind to pay attention at all the noise you were making; normally she would have blasted you. Blaise, don't remain hidden, I know you're here also." 

"Care to tell us anything?" asked Ron casually. 

"Elena, here are my meddlesome friends, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Blaise Zabini. Guys, this is Elena." 

"And where exactly are we going?" 

Elena couldn't utter a word. They didn't know why they were here, but still they were determined, just because Hermione was. 

"Bellatrix Lestrange," said Hermione tightly. 

"I'm with you." 

"Culloden Moor, the memorial cairn. Ready to Apparate?" 

~*~

Later, they would think themselves lucky that the Death Eaters were so full of themselves that they hadn't even bothered to secure the surroundings of their hideout. The 'pops' of Apparating sounded very loud in the quiet night. Elena took the lead, even though she had qualms about turning into Mrs. Norris under the incredulous eyes of Harry, Ron and Blaise. Harry and Ron paled visibly while Blaise whistled softly. 

"Wow…" 

"Guys, if you ever breathe a single word about this, I'll hunt you down," threatened Hermione. 

"Of course, Hermione," replied Ron meekly, Harry being still unable to speak. 

Elena hissed softly and they all fell quiet. She brushed her nose against the inscription on the memorial cairn and disappeared. Without any hesitation, Hermione imitated her. The three boys didn't move for a brief moment; they had no trust at all in Mrs. Norris. Then Blaise shoved them aside and said roughly: 

"What the Hell, I promised I'd keep an eye on her." 

He touched the inscription and disappeared. Harry and Ron looked at each other and had the same thought: a Slytherin braver than two Gryffindors? No way! Blaise's smirk when they arrived only seconds after him was more than irritating. They all hid under the Invisibility Cloak – and Hermione wondered how it could still fit four almost-adults when it has already been stretched for three children – and followed Elena silently, not even protesting in case of a bruised foot or kicked leg. 

They passed near a Death Eater lounging against a wall with a bored expression on his face. 

"Goyle," whispered Blaise in Hermione's ear. 

She nodded slowly; indeed, Elena had been right when she had said that he didn't seem very enthusiastic. His eyes lit up when seeing the dust-coloured cat trying to pass in front of him inconspicuously. He squatted down and extended his hand toward the cat. 

"Hello, little one," he murmured, his voice surprisingly soft. "I almost thought you wouldn't come back for your master. You would be Filch's cat, wouldn't you?" 

Elena hissed and arched her back, fur bristled. Goyle had a low chuckle. 

"Touchy, huh? Well, little girl, Filch is alone right now. Dear Bella is playing with Snape. If you play your cards well, you could manage to steal one caress or two before Bella remembers about Filch's existence. I would hurry if I were you, because she doesn't intent to be tender with him. Whole thing is silly in my opinion, but nobody ever asks for my opinion," he added with a wry smile, "so I doubt you will be interested in it." 

Elena sat, wrapping her tail around her hinder legs, and cocked her head, her lamp-like eyes fixed on him. 

"So you would care? I tell you, little cat, if you want, you can stay with me… afterwards. I would treat you good. It would be a welcome change from Bella's folly and Weasley's stuffiness." 

At the mention of 'Weasley', Ron went rigid. There was only one Weasley who could deserve the word 'stuffiness' and it was Percy. 

"Blood traitors, all of them, the Weasleys, but then, he never liked Filch or Snape. Other than that, I'm not sure that he subscribes at the Dark Lord's ideas. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, since Bella only lives for revenge." 

Elena butted her head against the offered palm and Goyle smiled. 

"Be careful, sweetie, Travers and Wormtail are on the prowl. That makes the five of us. Is it all you needed from me, little cat?" 

Elena's tail twitched slightly but she only replied with an innocent gaze. Goyle chuckled and scratched behind her ears affectionately. 

"Don't try to fool me, girl. Go save your master, I won't be standing in your way. And if you want to take Bella down, please do, it would make me feel a lot better." 

Silently, Elena and her hidden followers left the large wizard, who was wearing a definitely odd smile on his lips. 

~*~

Everything Goyle had said was true. The little group crossed the path of Travers, who was incapacitated by Blaise before he could even figure out that he wasn't alone. The young Slytherin kicked him in the ribs and Hermione had to drag him away before he spat on the unconscious Death Eater. 

"That's for Electra and her family!" 

"Electra?" 

"Electra McKinnon. Travers took a fierce pleasure in assassinating her and her family. She was a cousin of mine. Pure-blood and such, so it's normal she somehow belonged to my family." 

"There was a Marlene McKinnon who was a member of the Order of the Phoenix," remembered Harry. 

Blaise's eyes flashed. 

"Yes, well, _some_ Slytherins aren't bad and don't follow the Dark Lord's every whim!" 

"Hush!" intervened Ron. "Do you really want to get caught?" 

Still led by Elena, they soon heard a whiney voice: 

"I know they are here, Mistress. Travers is nowhere to be found, the boy found you, Mistress!" 

"Stop snivelling, Wormtail," said someone pompously and Ron paled when hearing him. "It's a shame you survived when others, much more deserving, received the Dementor's Kiss for their devotion to the Dark Lord." 

"Well said, my pet," intervened a third person and nobody had any difficulty to recognise Bellatrix Lestrange. 

Elena turned into her human shape and looked toward the others. Hermione stepped out of the Invisibility Cloak. 

"Are we sure we can trust what Goyle told me?" 

"He doesn't like Bellatrix." 

They all entered the room at the same time and Bellatrix smirked at them, her wand pointed at Severus's throat. 

"Just in time for the festivities to begin!" 

Wormtail shivered under the hateful gazes. Percy shrugged carelessly. In a dark corner of the room, was Argus, with chains on his wrists and ankles. Bellatrix noticed the eyes of the newcomers flickering to the caretaker. 

"Wormtail brought him to me as soon as he told me that Travers was missing. Of course, even if he were free, he wouldn't be of any help to you. He's a miserable Squib." 

"You mean you wouldn't dare to face him on the same level," replied Hermione scornfully. 

Bellatrix lost her mind and shrieked, aiming her wand at her. Everything happened very quickly: Percy threw something to Argus, who caught it awkwardly, and cast a spell to make his chains disappeared. Wormtail squealed in terror, turned into a rat and tried to escape. Immediately, Elena was back into a cat and pinned him on the ground, her sharp claws buried in his fur. Harry and Ron both hurled spells in Bellatrix's direction, diverting her attention from Hermione, who was trying to free Severus. They had almost succeeded in taking down the Death Eaters – Bellatrix proving to be singularly even more powerful than they had originally planned – when suddenly their wands were wrenched from their hands. They turned around to see a smirking wizard holding the wands in his hand, his own wand negligently twirling between his fingers. 

"About time," hissed Bellatrix, stepping toward him, her hand extended to retrieve her wand. 

To her surprise, he held it out of her reach and looked around to assess the situation, seemingly thoroughly bored. 

"You were almost overcome by _children_?" he said with disgust. 

"Rookwood, this is not the time!" rasped Bellatrix, her face twisting in anger. "Give me back my wand!" 

Augustus Rookwood, notorious Death Eater and quite able to defeat Bellatrix on his own, didn't pay her any attention and looked at his prisoners without real interest. Percy had crossed his arms on his chest, looking quite smug, though he would have been hard put to tell why he was feeling so. Hermione noticed that nobody was looking at Elena – except Argus, who was doing his best not to show he was staring at the skinny cat – and that, from the look of it, Wormtail wouldn't be a threat any time soon. 

Desperately, Hermione glanced around, hoping to find something to distract Bellatrix and Rookwood from their bickering. She caught sight of the chains that Percy had taken off Argus only moments earlier and had an idea. She concentrated hard, her hands closing into fists, nails driving into the flesh of her palms, wishing, _willing_¸ and a very soft rattle was heard Neither Bellatrix nor Rookwood heard it, since they weren't listening for it, but it caught the attention of both Severus and Argus. Harry, Ron and Blaise were too busy watching the two Death Eaters like hawks to be aware of their surroundings, though Blaise glanced briefly toward his Potions teacher as he moved quietly by Hermione's side. 

The young witch didn't even start when a strong arm slid around her waist. 

"Ready?" he murmured in her ear, his hot breath caressing her cheek. "Three… two… one…" 

They both concentrated on the chains, while Argus observed them with envy, wishing he could help them. Instead he readied himself for physical assault: he knew for quite a long time that arrogant pure-bloods like Bellatrix would never expect such a move and wouldn't know how to respond since they despised all things Muggle. 

The chains rattled against the floor, making a very audible clang. Bellatrix and Rookwood swirled around, turning their back to Elena, wands at the ready, since Rookwood had finally accepted to give it back to Bellatrix. As soon as he turned on his heels, Rookwood felt sharp claws digging in his back and then a heavier weight forced him to hunch his shoulders as a hateful voice whispered in his ear: 

"Remember me, Augustus?" 

"Elena!" he gasped, his voice suddenly hoarse as the tip of her wand sank into the flesh of his throat. 

"I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten me… It warms my heart, truly." 

During this time, Harry and Argus had both jumped on Bellatrix, each surprised of the other's intervention, and were trying to control her and take hold of her wand. The witch was struggling madly, shouting spells only half-way, for Argus's hand had found its way to her throat. Blaise had lunged on Rookwood, grabbing the wands and wrenching them from his grasp. As for Ron and Percy, they were keeping an eye on Peter, who was moaning pitifully. All in all, it was utter chaos. 

~*~

Someone stumbled in the room at the same moment Blaise looked away from Rookwood and the young Slytherin's face grew dark in hatred. 

"Travers!" he hissed. 

He made one step forward and found himself face to face with Bellatrix's wand. Behind her were Harry and Argus's bodies, apparently not breathing anymore. Elena was still duelling with Rookwood, who, if he had given up the stolen wands, had not relinquished his hold on his own. Bellatrix grinned maniacally. 

"A Zabini! What a surprise! I should have known that a sorcerer like you would end up being a blood traitor! You're not worth the name wizard!" 

"Because a murderess like you is worthy of being a witch?" replied Blaise with a snort. "Look around you and see what is like a real w–" 

He suddenly noticed that Severus and Hermione had disappeared from his field of vision. He fought back the bubbling panic threatening to raise its ugly head. Severus would not abandon him like this! And Hermione wouldn't either! She would rather die for her friends than step back to safety! He brought back his gaze to Bellatrix, only to find the tip of her wand pressed on his brow, just between his eyes. 

"This ends here," she said softly. "Good-bye, Zabini." 

Blaise clenched his teeth, refusing to close his eyes in front of his imminent death and so he was genuinely startled when she collapsed in front of him without a word. He looked up at Severus who was cradling his right hand in his left, gently rubbing his knuckles. 

"I've wanted to do that for far too long. The only thing I regret is that I couldn't break her nose." 

"You have to leave something for Harry," replied Hermione lightly. 

Now free from Bellatrix, Blaise was ready to face Travers, only to find that Ron had preceded him and was busy throwing curse after curse. Snarling, the young Slytherin pushed the Gryffindor aside. As long as Travers was concerned, there was no more friendship for Blaise. 

Severus bent down to retrieve the wands and yelped against his will as a curse from Travers hit him in the face. Hermione, full of righteous anger, grabbed her wand and was ready to fire a jinx at the Death Eater when she saw Goyle coming silently behind Travers. The huge fist rose in the air and fell down heavily on the skull in front of it. Travers crumpled on the ground with a loud thud. 

"Sorry, Zabini," said Goyle quite apologetically, "but I think I take precedence over you." 

Blaise would have screamed of having his revenge torn from him when he was so close of his aim, but he could understand Goyle's position and nodded weakly. 

All eyes turned to the only still fighting, Elena and Rookwood. Percy was watching the scene with detachment, leaning against the wall, arms crossed on his chest, his foot on Peter's neck, who was back into human form. The snapped wand of the pitiful Animagus was next to him and Hermione raised her eyebrows at it. 

"This could bring you problems with the Ministry," she said. 

"I am the Ministry," replied Percy arrogantly. "Fudge wouldn't dare to sneeze without me telling him so." 

"Quiet, Weasley," hissed Severus. "The snivelling excuse for a wizard currently under your foot is listening to every word we say and he's not yet received the Dementor's Kiss – provided that any Dementor would accepted to come near this." 

Elena, sent on the ground by a vicious move from Rookwood, saw Argus's motionless body and let a heartrending cry escape her lips. She cast a quick glance toward Severus and Hermione and their stony expression confirmed her in her belief that Argus was indeed dead. With a snarl, she lunged on Rookwood, pain and weariness all forgotten as the only thing present in her mind was that Argus was dead and that she had lost everything worth living for. Rookwood was surprised by the desperate attack and quite taken off guard. He stumbled back, trying to avoid the vicious curses she was throwing so quickly he didn't have the time to cast anything else but defending spells. 

~*~

"Rookwood," rasped a voice. "I remember…" 

Hermione's eyes turned to Harry, whose head was now on Ron's knees. His green eyes were open, trying to focus on the blurry silhouette of the fighting Death Eater. Harry grinned with difficulty. 

"I remember him grovelling in front of Voldemort, worried, frightened, and abjectly relieved when he wasn't subjected to Cruciatus… Instead, he threw Avery to the lions…" 

Rookwood jerked back when he heard Harry's words. 

"How can you remember that?" he shouted. "You weren't there! Nobody was there but the Dark Lord and me!" 

"You fool!" hissed Harry, sitting up with Ron's help. "I _was_ Voldemort! I heard every whining note in your voice, I saw the miserable fear in your eyes, I saw and heard everything! How could I be afraid of a worm such as you are?" 

Rookwood glared at Harry, with the promise that he would get back at him later, but for the moment, he had to deal with the wild cat that was Elena Norris. Her hand snaked around his throat, her wand pressed against his temple. 

"You remember, Augustus?" she whispered hoarsely. "You remember that I was a Death Eater? Of course you remember, after all, you were the one who initiated me. Do you remember the spell you made me use to torture my first Muggle? The very spell that I never wanted to cast? Well, I think that now I have found a reason and a desire to cast it… on you… How does that sound?" 

Rookwood's eyes widened; they didn't know what was the spell Elena was talking about, but from Rookwood's reaction, it could only be bad. He tried to jerk free, but Elena's grip on his throat tightened, her nails feeling suddenly as sharp as the claws of her feline form. They all felt the enormous power building around Elena as she prepared to cast the spell and suddenly… 

"Elena, no… This dark spell will land you in Azkaban…" 

Elena's wand felt from her fingers and the burst of power deflated suddenly. She turned around warily, almost not believing her ears, and found herself staring into Argus's lamp-like eyes. She made a step toward him, her own eyes growing wide. Rookwood saw the opportunity and aimed his wand at her. Quick as a snake, swallowing his pain, Argus reached for his own wand and yelled: 

"_STUPEFY!_" 

Rookwood froze and fell backwards, landing on the ground with a satisfying crash. Goyle nodded approvingly at the body of his fellow Death Eater. 

"Nice one, Filch," he commented. 

Quite shaken, Elena fell on her knees and reached for Argus, her fingers caressing gently his cheek. He closed his eyes, feeling exhausted and aching, and didn't even start when Elena's arms went around him and pulled him in her lap, where she cradled him silently. 

"Is everybody alright?" asked Hermione, her voice a little too high. 

"Mostly, yes," replied Harry hoarsely. "Now can someone explain everything to me? Percy, Goyle, Blaise, Rookwood?" 

Percy shrugged and cast _Petrificus Totalus_ on Wormtail. 

"Are they all unconscious?" he asked clinically. 

Severus did a quick check-up and nodded affirmatively. 

"Good. Now, we can talk. Because I'm afraid it's going to be quite long and I don't think any of us knows the whole thing." 

At that, Severus smirked smugly, but didn't say anything. Hermione narrowed her eyes but remained silent as well. 

"I'll begin then," continued Percy, whose pompous tone had suddenly disappeared. "First of all, contrary to your opinion for two or three years, I'm not one of the blind and stupid staff at the Ministry. Actually, I was a spy for the Order, but so secret that even not Dad and Mum knew about it. I did my best to ingratiate myself to Fudge, until I had so much influence over him that I could have taken over the reins of government without anybody noticing the difference. My second task was to infiltrate the remaining Death Eaters, as they were beginning to get quite wary of Snape. I quickly became Bellatrix Lestrange's pet, to Pettigrew's regret. I would have saved Snape from her clutches without your help." 

"And what about Argus?" asked Hermione aggressively. 

"I don't care a iota for Filch, Hermione," replied Percy with arrogance. 

"Well, you should! Argus is my friend and if you are _my_ friend, then you should care for his well-fare too!" 

"He's totally unimportant," insisted Percy in his best lecturing tone. 

"If he is, then so am I. Don't bother talking to me for as long as you hold to this idea." 

Percy shrugged, while everybody looked in stupor at Hermione. 

"What?" she said crossly. "Am I not allowed to have friends?" 

"Of course, Hermione, but Filch?" protested Harry. 

"May I remind you that he just defeated Rookwood?" she asked loftily. 

Everybody fell quiet at that. 

~*~

"What about Goyle, Blaise and Rookwood and Elena?" said Ron, still squirming a bit under Hermione's hard gaze. 

Goyle smiled good-naturedly. 

"I don't like Bella. I can't say I was very enthusiastic when the Dark Lord was there, but with him gone, I was even less enthusiastic. I don't really appreciate lunatics." 

"But you didn't do anything to help them!" protested Ron. 

Goyle had a sly smile. 

"I did something in my way, boy: I did nothing to stop the rescuers." 

"You didn't know we were here." 

Goyle couldn't help it and threw his head back to laugh. 

"Of course, I knew, boy! I'm not as stupid as you may believe. When I stand guard, I surround myself with spells allowing me to see through invisibility spells… or Invisibility Cloaks. Just ask Elena here how she did to see the students in Hogwarts even when they were hidden under their Invisibility Cloak. I saw you and thus, I gave all the information to Elena." 

"You know Elena then?" 

"I didn't know it was her until you named her yourself, but I recognise the name. Rookwood spoke of her sometimes." 

"Which brings us to our next subject: what's between Elena and Rookwood?" 

"You are too curious, boy," murmured Elena without looking at Harry. "Grim tales of horror are not the best to listen to." 

She looked up, her eyes suddenly filled with fire, resolutely turning her eyes away from Argus. 

"If you want to know the truth, my father was a Death Eater and Augustus was one of his friends. He decided to take charge of my education, teaching me Dark Arts. Even before entering Hogwarts, I know more dark spells than a fully-fledged wizard. Augustus is a very powerful wizard, even though he _is_ a worm in front of the Dark Lord. When I turned fifteen, Augustus had other plans for me; I refused and, for once, my father backed me up on that decision. Augustus took it quite well but he began teaching me horrible spells, spells that I didn't want to cast. He threatened me with Cruciatus if I didn't comply. Sometimes I chose the pain rather than learning the spell. My father was blind to that. Augustus was good at lying and he presented me like a mythomaniac, which my parents quite readily believed. As soon as I graduated from Hogwarts, my father pressed me to put myself at the Dark Lord's service. Maybe at that time I truly believed in the superiority of pure-bloods, but it was not to the point of killing everybody else. It was just pointless. I refused, but Augustus dragged me there and put me under Imperius for the whole ceremony. Normally I'm quite good at fighting this curse, but this time, I don't know why, I couldn't resist it. Everything he told me to do seemed wonderful at the moment, although it made me sick afterwards." 

"He drugged you," said Goyle offhandedly. "He told us about it. A will-annihilator potion. It almost conditions the person for Imperius. Evan Rosier and he came up with it. They were proud of it and used it frequently to question Aurors." 

Elena's eyes flashed with fury. 

"He presented me to the Dark Lord, telling him that I was his betrothed. Needless to say, the Dark Lord was pleased to see people from two pure-blood families join in marriage. I was initiated, receiving this ugly reminder," she spat, poking her left arm in rage, "and then Augustus made me use the most horrible spell he had taught me on a hapless Muggle. A little girl, a nine-year-old little girl," she said, closing her eyes. "I discovered later that she was a witch, but she never made it to Hogwarts. At the moment, I thought the feelings of power were exhilarating. As soon as I was myself again, the mere thought of it was enough to make me retch." 

She was very pale and she swallowed several times before continuing, not listening to Argus's gentle insistence that she didn't have to go through this. Everybody else was listening in rapt fascination and horror. 

"Afterwards, as my hands were still covered with her blood, the Dark Lord gave permission to Augustus to take me to a quieter place. I hadn't understood then what he meant, but I understood it quickly enough… Before the night was over, Augustus had made me his. The worse is that I hadn't fought him; I had welcomed him as if he had been my long-lost love." 

She turned her head away, as if ashamed, and her voice was toneless when she resumed: 

"I fled and hid. I didn't know where to go and what to do, but I was horrified and ashamed. Augustus almost found me several times, one of them during which I cursed him with the face he has now. Then, finally, I turned toward the only haven I could think of, Hogwarts. I had there the memory of someone who would fight to death for me, even though I had only scorned him. I didn't go to him as I was, for I still had my pride, but I concealed as a cat, my Animagus form, which nobody knew of. This is my past history with Augustus Rookwood. Are you satisfied, boy?" she asked wearily. 

"I… I'm sorry, Elena. I didn't know," stammered Harry, red with embarrassment. 

She closed her eyes wearily. 

"No, you didn't know and you shouldn't have known, but you have always wanted to know everything… even things that never concerned you." 

Harry stood justly chastised and nobody dared to breathe a word. 

~*~

That is, until Blaise decided that the silence was far too heavy and bothering. Feigning indignation, he put his fists on his hips. 

"And naturally, everybody forgot about me! As usual. I think I'm going to cry." 

Severus rolled his eyes at Blaise's antics and Hermione smothered a snigger. 

"Alright, baby Blaise," sighted Goyle, "tell us your story." 

Blaise didn't comment on the term 'baby', but instead he glared at the still body of Travers. 

"I had an aunt," he began softly, his tone suddenly serious. "She was called Marlene. She married a man named McKinnon. Both she and her husband were great wizards. She was very close to my father and often came at home. Until she had her own daughter, I was like a son to her and afterwards, she treated us both as if we were siblings. They were pure-bloods, the both of them, and sorted into Slytherin. She often said, laughing, that Electra – her daughter – and I would be together at Hogwarts, both in Slytherin, naturally, and that we would be the worse pranksters the school had ever seen. Obviously, she didn't know Fred and George Weasley," he added with a sad smile. 

He paused a moment, lost in his thoughts, before continuing: 

"It's my father who told me. I was too young to remember any of this. Anyway. Even though she was a pure-blood Slytherin, my aunt didn't believe in the Voldemort crap. She believed in justice and freedom and so she joined the Order of the Phoenix, against my father's advice who didn't think it was a good thing. She was a great asset to the Order, or so I was told. But Voldemort didn't like opponents. A fateful evening, he sent several Death Eaters at her house and then the Dark Mark hovered in the sky. They killed them all: Marlene, her husband, Electra, my grandparents who were there for the evening." 

"Why?" Harry almost cried, unable to help it. 

Blaise glanced down before staring back at him. 

"Electra was born at the end of July and her mother had been there when Voldemort killed Dorcas Meadowes, when he attacked Gideon and Fabian Prewett and when he murdered the Bones family. She belonged to the group of Aurors who came to the rescue." 

Harry gaped. It was all because of the prophecy, all because… of him. 

"Dumbledore went to see my father afterwards and told him what had happened," continued Blaise. "The complete description. It was so horrible that I still remember him getting as white as a sheet each time I asked him how Aunt Marlene had died. He never accepted to tell me." 

His eyes wandered toward Severus. 

"Did the report come from you?" 

He nodded curtly. 

"Indeed. I was there and I cast the Killing Curse on your aunt as soon as I could do it without being caught, so I would shorten her sufferings." 

"Thank you. And… Electra?" asked Blaise, his voice slightly faltering. 

"Travers killed her immediately, under her mother's eyes. He wasn't interested in a baby's cries." 

"Travers is the last one, isn't he?" said Blaise savagely. "Who else was there?" 

"I was, if you want to revenge on me. Then there were Travers, Regulus Black, who got sick at the sight, Rosier and Jugson." 

"I hope the Dementors find him tasty." 

"Enough, Blaise. Those bloodthirsty thoughts will lead you nowhere, but down the path Travers had already followed. Don't make the mistake of following him there." 

"What do we do with them?" asked Hermione practically. 

"Leave them to me," replied Severus glumly. "The Aurors are used to seeing me at odd hours with some captive Death Eaters. Goyle and Weasley, maybe you should come along." 

"And blowing my cover when I'm this close of becoming Minister for Magic?" said Percy with a smirk that shocked his brother. "Surely, Snape, you don't think!" 

"Grow up, Weasley," growled Severus. "Elena, Argus, can you see that the foolish Gryffindors make it safely to their dormitory?" 

"I'm not a Gryffindor!" protested Blaise hotly. 

"You certainly acted like one." 

Argus stood up, leaning quite heavily on Elena and Hermione, and nodded quickly. Percy was unable to hide his grimace of disgust. Hermione glared at him and huffed in annoyance. Slowly the little group left the room. Severus was twirling his wand between his fingers and smirked amiably at the others. 

"Ready?" 

They all nodded. 

"Perfect. _Obliviate_." 

Percy and Goyle stared blankly at him for a moment and then shook themselves. 

"We ought to take them to the Aurors," said Goyle uncertainly. 

"Right you are, my friend," replied Severus almost gleefully. 

They had absolutely no remembrance of Elena, Argus and Blaise having been there and Severus had made sure to include the still unconscious Death Eaters in his spell. Satisfied that the three Slytherins were now protected from any denunciation, he left for the Ministry with his prisoners. 

~*~

On the way back, Hermione thought of Severus and the spell he had cast on the others. She had known what he wanted to do and was grateful for it, not wanting to have endangered Elena. She briefly thought of doing the same with Harry, Ron and Blaise, but discarded it as quickly. First of all, casting an Obliviate spell was a tricky thing and one needed to be very careful when doing so. Secondly, Harry, Ron and she had shared many adventures without any memory charm and she knew she could trust them to hold their tongue. As for Blaise, she somehow felt that he could become a worthy member of their little team. 

When Argus, Elena and the four students arrived at Hogwarts – Argus having activated a Portkey as he couldn't Apparate – they were quite surprised to find Minerva waiting for them at the door. Hermione groaned, unable to believe they had been so careless as to arrive without the cover of the Invisibility Cloak. 

"Be glad of it, Miss Granger," said Minerva crisply, as if reading her mind. "Elena, go hide wherever you hide usually. Argus, please wait for me in my office, I have some things to tell you. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Zabini, you go back to your respective dormitories. Miss Granger, the Headmaster is currently knocking at your door." 

"Why on earth…" grumbled Hermione, as everybody disappeared, except Blaise who tagged along. 

"We received a report from Alastor Moody only minutes ago," continued Minerva, walking briskly toward the Head Girl's rooms. "It would seem that Severus made his appearance at the Aurors' headquarters with Percy Weasley and Aloysius Goyle, bringing with him four prisoners: Peter Pettigrew, Johan Travers, Bellatrix Lestrange and Augustus Rookwood. One of them mentioned a witch with bushy hair. It seems they were talking about you. Immediately, the Headmaster headed for your room." 

Blaise's hand closed on Hermione's elbow. 

"I'm coming with you," he said quietly. 

"It's not the moment!" hissed Hermione. 

"I can make the puppy eyes as well as Severus!" riposted Blaise. 

Hermione was hard put not to laugh at the image. 

As they neared the Head Girl's rooms, they could hear a voice protesting vehemently: 

"It is impossible, master Dumbledore! I do not let men enter the room of the lady I protect in the middle of the night. Come back with the sun and then I shall see if she is awake and disposed to receive you." 

The trio slowed down and Hermione glanced carefully toward Sir George's portrait. 

"Cin isn't here," she whispered. 

"Which means, Miss Granger?" asked Minerva. 

"Which means that he's probably waiting for me at the other painting," she replied with a mischievous grin. 

Not caring for Minerva's disbelieving gaze, Hermione grabbed Blaise by the hand and dragged him at the opposite where Albus was standing. Minerva sighed and made way to Albus, trying her best to behave as if she hadn't just helped two students to fool the Headmaster. 

~*~

Albus was getting quite angry and even considered simply blasting the portrait to pieces. Alastor's report had worried him and he wanted to confront Hermione about the events that had taken place on Culloden Moor. 

"One last time, Sir George, I command you to open this door!" 

His still imprecise thought of firing magic at the painting faded into nothingness as Cinnabar re-entered the portrait, curling smugly on a high rock, turning a malevolent golden eye toward Albus. The Knight looked at the red dragon, whose tail slightly twitched, but before he could say a word, the door slowly opened and a bleary-eyed Hermione appeared, her hair tousled, clutching to her chest a dressing gown far too big for her. 

"What is it, Headmaster?" she asked, trying quite unsuccessfully to hide a yawn. 

"Where have you been, young lady?" 

"Uh? Where was I supposed to be?" 

"Don't play game with me, Miss Granger! It took you far too long to open your door! Where were you?" 

"With me," interjected a new voice from behind Hermione. "Sorry, love," Blaise added, flinging his arm around her shoulders, "I'm afraid we will have to confess everything." 

Sir George stared at the young Slytherin in horror, noticing the discarded robes lying in a heap behind him, the creased shirt with the first buttons open, and emitted a noise that was half-way between a spluttered cry of outrage and a strangled moan of despair. Cinnabar yawned and Hermione discreetly winked at him. 

"You foul snake!" he shouted, waving his sword in front of Cinnabar's nose, "you let him enter while I had my back turned, didn't you? No respect, no sense of proper behaviours! You–" 

"This is enough, Sir George," interrupted Albus wearily. "Mr. Zabini, may I know the reason of your presence in the Head Girl's room?" 

Blaise even managed to look quite embarrassed. After all, Slytherins didn't like being caught. 

"Well, Hermione and I… um, we have these little trysts sometimes…" 

Hermione blushed and buried her face in her hands with a moan of anguish: 

"Oh Blaise, no…" 

"I think we should come clean, love," insisted Blaise, gently rubbing her back. 

Albus frowned, obviously upset. 

"Mr. Zabini, you said you were with Miss Granger all night?" 

"I haven't let her out of my sight since before curfew, sir," he replied promptly. 

He wasn't lying and felt a curious satisfaction at the fact. His eyes widened slightly at the realisation that the Headmaster was using a minor spell of truth. He hid his smile. Really, after so long dealing with Severus, Albus should know that Slytherins had many ways to tell the truth all the while hiding essential facts! 

"Strange, very strange," muttered Albus. "Mr. Zabini, do you know of a Johan Travers?" 

The clear gaze of the young Slytherin flashed with hatred. 

"I do know that name, sir," he said, his voice venomous. "And I wish he could suffer thousands deaths!" 

"Do you know where he is currently?" 

"No, sir." 

He still wasn't lying. After all, he didn't know where Severus had taken the prisoners. 

"Then I guess you will be glad to know that he's now in the hands of the Aurors and that he will soon pay for his crimes." 

"He already was once in the Aurors' hands and it didn't stop him from escaping Azkaban! If he succeeds again, I shall know no respite until he dies from my hand!" 

"Odd that you don't ask who captured him," remarked Albus softly. 

"Why?" Blaise said with a shrug. "Is there someone else except Professor Snape who chases Death Eaters? I wasn't aware of any but then, maybe I was misinformed." 

Albus winced and decided that were he to remain, he would undoubtedly lose the argument. So he left for the night, promising himself that he would clear things later. Minerva gave the two students a curt nod of approval and followed the Headmaster. 

Hermione thanked Sir George profusely and petted Cinnabar with soft coos for letting her enter through the hidden door, whose portrait was of a forgotten cousin of the fierce red dragon. 

~*~

It was quite late when Argus entered his office and then opened the door leading to his personal room. Elena was there, waiting for him, and she was so tense that she missed the troubled look of hope and resignation on his face. She walked determinately to him, took his wand from his hand before he could react and threw it by the window. Her own wand followed the same path. Argus gasped in surprise and opened wide eyes, trying to understand what was happening. 

Elena took a deep breath; this was her last attempt. If it didn't work, she would forget everything about Argus Filch and leave Hogwarts forever. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. 

"You threw my wand away," he said, dazzled, still processing the latest events before the shock of the kiss registered. 

"I don't _care_ for it!" she exclaimed fiercely. 

"But I have no powers without it." 

"I don't care." 

"I'm no better than a Muggle." 

"I would accept to live as a Muggle for you," she replied, intent. 

"Not the powers?" he asked, suspicious. 

"Not the powers." 

He looked at her attentively and she returned his gaze. She swallowed with difficulty. 

"I love you, Argus, you, not the new powers unleashed thanks to Hermione. But I'm tired of trying to make you realise it. I'm tired of feeling like a teenager because you don't notice me and I'm tired of being afraid of rejection. If you don't want me, just tell me and I'll go away and never bother you." 

"But I do! Just ask Severus and Hermione if you don't believe me! You know I do, I've loved you since the beginning! How was I to know that–" 

He stopped when Elena hugged him so fiercely that she knocked the wind out of him. 

"I can say you took your sweet time," commented a dry voice. 

Argus and Elena started like students caught red handed out after curfew. Naturally, Severus and Hermione were there, leaning against the doorframe, both wearing the same smirk of superiority.. Severus's cheekbone was bleeding and he had been subjected twice to the Cruciatus Curse plus some other random curses, but he was here, enjoying Argus's bewilderment. 

"_Accio wands!_" shouted Hermione and the two wands Elena had thrown by the window flew right in her hand. 

"It would be a waste to let you go to the Muggle word," said Severus carelessly, definitely feeling smug. 

To everybody's surprise, Argus just laughed, holding Elena close to him, and above her head, he looked at Hermione. In his eyes she could see joy, renewed hope and a mischievous glint that she had never seen before. She didn't need to think for a long time to know what was the reason for it and she grinned happily. Someone was in for a big surprise! 


	7. Games

**Disclaimer**: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.   
**Spoilers**: Order of the Phoenix 

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**~ The Power Of A Squib - Games ~**

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Thank you for your reviews!

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Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, middle of July. Harry looked around him with satisfaction. The once horrid place – that he had still preferred to the Dursleys' home – was now feeling cosy and really deserved the word of 'home'. Every room, to the last floor, had been cleaned thoroughly and redecorated, some with his friends in thought: a room for Ron could only contain posters of the Chuddley Cannons, a room for Hermione would be quiet and filled with bookshelves. He had prepared rooms for the whole Weasley family and several members of the Order of the Phoenix who could eventually spend the night here. Like Remus. 

Dobby had come to help, if only for removing the spells Kreacher had put on Mrs. Black's painting. Before taking it down from the wall and burning it, Harry had cast a _Silencio_ spell on her and had told her everything he thought about her. She had been furious, but unable to answer. Harry had been careful to burn her portrait in front of a painting of Sirius, so that she could see her son until her last moment. He had taken away the silencing spell when the portrait was half-burnt and had listened to her heaping abuse on him and Sirius; he had not even flinched when her harsh words had turned into cries of pain and moans of agony. 

Instead of her portrait, he had hung several, smaller, portraits of his friends – the Weasley family and Hermione among them – along with Sirius and Remus and a picture of his parents. They were all waving merrily to whomever crossed the threshold and more than anything, Harry felt that this was really his home. How could it not be when he was welcomed by the people he cherished the most? Regularly, at odd hours in the day, he would wander back to the hallway, looking at the portraits. Then he would smile, before going back to whatever he had been doing. 

Dobby, of course, had wanted to help him clean the house and he knew that Ron and Hermione would have helped also, but he had refused any help. The reason why he had been working like crazy since the end of term was that he wanted to forget that a part of his life was over. He knew what he wanted to do: he wanted to be an Auror. But except that, he knew nothing of the big world he was going to step into. It was worse than when he had learnt he was a wizard: the shock had been such and the things had happened so quickly that he hadn't had the time to wonder and panic. He was used to Hermione being always with him, reminding him of his homework, but Hermione wouldn't be with him this coming year. As for Ron, he didn't know; being an Auror interested him, as well as becoming a professional Quidditch player. Then he had thought of joining his brothers' joke shop. There was also the fact that his father had told him about a position of strategist at the Ministry and his eyes had shone like stars: strategy was like Wizard Chess. 

So Harry had worked himself to exhaustion, trying to forget that he didn't know where he was going. He had finally managed to get rid of the damp and the rotting smell invading the house. He had restored all the paintings, taking away years of grime, even though he had received several degrading comments. To those who had insulted him he had retold thoroughly the fate of Mrs. Black's portrait and that had silenced even the most vehement of them. Phineas Nigellus nodded approvingly and sniggered when receiving dark glances. 

The shabby black paint of the entrance door was now clean and neat, even though one could notice several brush marks. The silver doorknocker was shiny, though still looking like a twisted serpent. All the windows were clean and the walls all wore a fresh coat of paint. The chandelier, the candelabra and the gas lamps were shining also, newly polished. He had left the serpents, even though he would have preferred to see the lion of Gryffindor rather than the Slytherin snake. He had done most of the work by hand, working like a Muggle, being as black as the door by the time he had finished giving it a coat of paint, but now he could wander in the house, looking proudly at his handiwork. 

~*~

He heard a knock at the door, reverberating through the house, and he hurried into the hallway. Laughing at a joke – probably Blaise's – Hermione, Ron and the young Slytherin stepped in and immediately stopped to admire the new decoration. 

"I told them!" said Hermione, smiling widely. "I saw that the windows were clean and that they all had new curtains! Of course, they didn't notice anything, until their nose was against the door. Hello, Harry! You did a wonderful job!" 

"Thank you, Hermione," he replied, his head already spinning from her quick sentences. "Hello, Ron, Blaise. Where are the others?" 

"They are all coming," said Ron, shrugging. "We didn't want to shock them by letting them see that Blaise was with us, so we came ahead." 

"I'm hurt," Blaise whined immediately. "I'm not ugly, why would I shock them?" 

"Because, Blaise, you're a Slytherin." 

"Well, this house is full of snakes, in case you didn't notice, so I hardly think that I'm the one out of place here." 

"You didn't change them, Harry?" 

"No. As much as Sirius hated them, they are part of the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black'." 

Blaise grinned. Hermione entered the first room and put down the cage she had been carrying. Opening the door, she let out four cats, one of them being a very recognisable – and irritated – Crookshanks. Harry gasped when seeing a very familiar cat among the three others. 

"Hermione, you brought _Mrs. Norris_!" 

"Of course, I did," she replied, imperturbable. "After what she did on Culloden Moor, it's the least I could do." 

"Uh… yes," said Harry, weakly. "Who are the others? McGonagall in her Animagus form?" 

"You never were much of a cat person, Harry. You will discover in time." 

Before Harry could protest, the next guests were coming through the door and he found himself in a bone-crushing hug from Molly Weasley. 

"Harry! You're such a dear to invite us!" 

The whole Weasley family had arrived, along with a frowning Severus and a grinning Minerva. Her grin didn't falter when seeing Blaise, though Albus's smile did fade away. Blaise, who was informally sitting on the ground petting Crookshanks, did not pay him any attention; his only ambition seemed to get Crookshanks's purr always louder. Then, as soon as Albus turned his back to the young Slytherin, he looked up at Hermione and sent her an evil smirk. She replied in the same way before turning back innocently and leading Severus, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt to their respective rooms. 

During the day, they all did whatever they wanted, mostly catching up with old friends and even, in some case, beginning odd new friendships, like Blaise and Kingsley, who were rarely seen without each other during the afternoon. Owls came and went in the house, Hedwig huffing disapprovingly when they came too close to her, and Harry, no matter who the recipient was, took the letters and put them carefully on the top of an old oak sideboard. Except two that Severus managed to snatch before Harry with an evil glare and knowing smirk. 

~*~

As the evening came, they all headed for the room Harry had indicated earlier and the first one to enter bit back a cry of surprise. The door opened on Argus's office in Hogwarts, the smell of fried fish lashing their face. The single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling had its light reflected by the polished manacles just behind it and in those manacles… 

Minerva gasped and strode forward, frowning. 

"Argus! What does it mean? May I know why Harry is hanging by his thumbs in your manacles?" 

Argus raised his head from whatever he was reading and had an oily smile. Minerva heard a tiny whimper and turned her head to see Hermione, Ron and Blaise cowering in the darkest corner of the office. The Transfiguration teacher took a deep breath and looked again around the office. Mrs. Norris and Orestes were sprawled lazily on Argus's desk, the caretaker's left hand scratching behind the kitten's ears and said kitten was purring loudly, presenting all aspects of happiness. Harry's head was hanging down and he didn't seem to have enough strength to lift it. 

"Argus?" 

"He confessed everything he has done since his first year. Believe, Professor, the accumulation of them justifies enough the punishment." 

As Minerva opened her mouth to protest, the others being her still being unable to react, Argus looked at the list in his hands. 

"Wandering in the corridors after curfew in first year, with the use of an Invisibility Cloak, going into the Restricted Section at night," he began, his voice monotonous. "With the company of those two here, he went on the third floor which was forbidden due to Hagrid's… dog." 

"Fluffy," said Hagrid gruffly. 

"The poor child!" exclaimed Molly, pushing Minerva aside and stomping forward with the firm intention of freeing Harry. 

Except that Argus smiled and that Molly couldn't even reach the middle of the room. 

"Mrs. Weasley, frankly, who do you take me for? Do you really think I would allow you to interrupt the moment?" 

"You're a Squib! You have no power!" 

"That's not nice to say. What do you think, my sweet? Not nice at all." 

In answer, Mrs. Norris purred loudly as Argus's finger gently caressed the soft fur under her chin. Before Argus could do something, Molly had whipped out her wand and pointed it at Harry's manacles. A jet of blue light shot from the tip of the wand and hit the shining manacles. Harry moaned in pain and tried pitifully to change his position to lessen the pressure of the manacles on his thumbs. Argus stood up, frowning. 

"Don't do that, Mrs. Weasley. You will only worsen the punishment. I protected the whole room with spells and none of them is going to be lifted until I'm done." 

Minerva, who knew that Hermione was responsible for Argus's newfound powers, shot her a glance of reproach, but the young witch was looking down, her shoulders shaking. Was she crying? 

"Argus, this is enough, you don't need to–" 

"You will listen to me until the end and in silence." 

Suddenly frightened, they fell silent and listened to him. Soon enough, everyone was half sleeping as Argus continued to drone on. Until he reached the previous month. 

"The four of them left Hogwarts during the night and went to Culloden Moor to save Professor Snape's life and mine." 

Albus jerked awake. 

"I knew it!" he said triumphantly. "I'm going to sack Sir George!" 

Mrs. Norris jumped on the ground and immediately turned into Elena. Without caring for the cries of surprise, she looked pointedly at Albus. 

"You will do no such thing. I was with them and would have rather died than have them hurt." 

Severus sniggered and strode forward, waving nonchalantly his wand. Argus's office faded into a guest room and left the four young wizards laughing heartily. 

~*~

"What does it mean?" asked Molly dumbfounded, rushing forward to make sure that Harry wasn't hurt. 

He was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes and, strangely, there was not a single mark of the manacles on his thumbs. Hermione was clutching Blaise's shoulders lest she fall on the ground. Ron was a little embarrassed, not having thought that it could cause grief to his mother. 

"Nothing happened, Molly," said Severus gruffly. "Potter only thought it would be fun." 

"Well, Argus wanted that for so long that we couldn't refuse. And it was an amusing way to tell you of all the pranks we played." 

"It's a wonder you're leaving Hogwarts!" said Molly with a reproving sniff. "You're not mature enough. Totally irresponsible! Almost worse than Fred and George." 

"I resent that," protested one of the twins. 

"Yet we are leaving Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley," replied Harry. "Ginny, if you please?" 

The younger girl stepped forward, carrying all the scrolls that had come earlier by owl. One by one, Harry took them and handed them to the seventh year student whose name was written on it. Neville looked at his with trembling hands and shouted gleefully: 

"Outstanding! Hermione, I have _Outstanding_ in Potions!" 

He rushed to Elena and crushed her ribs in a bear hug, before shaking heartily Severus's hand. 

"Thank you, Elena, thank you, Professor Snape!" 

And, in front of everybody's incredulous eyes, the timid Neville began a dance of joy. 

"Severus, may I know why he thanked Elena?" asked Albus, frowning. 

"Because she tutored him. She has a lot more patience than I do." 

"Then you lied to me!" 

"Albus, please… I'm a Slytherin. We are born liars." 

Blaise sniggered and Neville dragged the attention back to him when he seized Ginny by the waist and twirled around with her in his arms. Then Hermione opened her letter and grinned widely. Mutely, she came by Severus's side and showed it to him. 

"Outstanding everywhere… Congratulations, love," he murmured. 

She smiled up at him and whispered wickedly: 

"May I claim my prize now?" 

"Now?" 

He looked around, suddenly feeling a bit awkward, then looked back at her. And wondered why he was hesitating. He slightly bent down and kissed her as his arms slid around her waist. 

"I could be fired, you know," he murmured, lightly kissing her jawbone. 

"Do you mind?" 

"Not really. After all, the Weasley twins still hold the title of the most memorable exit of Hogwarts. Time for me to try for the title," he added, nipping her earlobe before attacking her neck. 

"Severus…" she moaned softly. 

"Severus! What do you think you are doing?" 

Severus straightened, his arm coming around Hermione's shoulders, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his chest. 

"Why, Albus, I'm congratulating my fiancée," he replied calmly. 

Everybody, except for Argus, Elena and Blaise, gasped loudly. 

"Wait, everybody calm down," said Kingsley. "First of all, who is the lady in red? And secondly, Severus, if you care to explain…?" 

~*~

Severus freed an arm long enough to take two scrolls from one of his pockets and handed one of them to Argus. 

"I sent a request several days ago to the Ministry. Here's the answer." 

Argus opened it slowly, his hands trembling, and his eyes filled with tears. 

"My licence… I'm a wizard, I'm truly a wizard, Elena!" 

She clasped his hand tightly, happy for him. 

"Elena, this is one for you. Now you can reclaim your identity without fear." 

She opened the second scroll and laughed softly. 

"My registration as an Animagus. Very thoughtful, Severus. Thank you so much, for this and for Argus." 

He shrugged uneasily and was glad that she took the attention from him as she straightened and, her hand still in Argus's, said loudly: 

"I am Elena Norris. Most of you know me Mrs. Norris, Argus's cat. I used this cover to hide from the Death Eaters." 

"You took refuge with a Squib against Death Eaters? You have a death wish, girl," said Molly with a sniff of reprobation as she said 'Squib'. 

"Then maybe," intervened Minerva softly, "there are more powers to a Squib than what we know…" 

Argus looked at her gratefully and she shrugged slightly. Taking his breath, he tightened his free hand around the smooth stone hidden in his pocket. Under everybody's eyes, he turned into a tortoiseshell cat with huge eyes. 

"Filch's an Animagus?" exclaimed Fred. 

"Not really," said Hermione calmly. "It's actually the result of several combined disciplines." 

She had a fond smile remembering the first time Elena had seen Argus turn into a cat in front of her. She had burst into tears, pressing the feline in her arms and hiding her face in his fur. Argus had been red with embarrassment for at least fifteen minutes afterwards. 

The shrill voice of Molly Weasley brought her back to reality. 

"How did he manage that? He has no power!" 

Elena's eyes narrowed and Hermione, from where she was, could hear the grinding of her teeth. 

"Now, Molly," said Kingsley conciliatorily. "Please stop with the degrading comments. You saw, like everybody else here, that he indeed turned into a cat. Do not question his powers." 

"Mrs. Weasley, may I ask what you have against Squibs?" asked Hermione in a tight voice. "For all I know, Argus never did anything to you. Is it in relation with the fact that you have a cousin who is a Squib and never speak of him in the family?" 

Molly turned red and opened her mouth to protest vehemently when Kingsley cut in smoothly: 

"This is not the subject of the conversation here, Hermione. May we go back on it?" 

"As long as she keeps her insults for herself," muttered the young Gryffindor, glaring at Molly. 

The cat that was Argus jumped in her arms and rubbed his nose against her cheek. She smiled tentatively. 

"Sorry, Argus. You were not supposed to hear such things. I didn't know she would react like this." 

The caretaker turned back into his human form and shrugged slightly. 

"Don't worry, sweet. Thank you for standing up for me." 

"You're my friend, Argus. I will always stand by your side." 

"Back to the subject?" Kingsley reminded gently. 

"Oh, the subject… Hermione taught me some spells and potions, offered me Orestes, then created an amplifier for my wand, which allowed me to be taught, let's say, more thoroughly, as Hermione didn't have much time. Elena and Severus taught me Defence Against the Dark Arts. Then I went with Severus and Elena to trap the last Death Eaters, got trapped myself and rescued by those young wizards and Elena. Afterwards, I had a most successful meeting with Minerva, Filius and Severus about a charm for me to change into a cat," replied Argus, speaking without taking a breath between sentences. 

They all gaped at him. 

~*~

"Am I the only one to think it was too fast a summary?" ventured Tonks, who had just entered. 

Severus rolled his eyes. 

"Honestly! You would think that you don't even know how to look around yourself and listen to others." 

"Well, we are ready to listen to you, Severus," said Albus quite acidly. 

"That's easy. Hermione came to ask me if she could use the Potions classroom for her lessons to Argus, I offered to supervise, I fell in love with her and she with me, she saved my life along with Argus's and thus we became engaged." 

"Wow, that was even faster than Filch's summary." 

"Thank you, Tonks, we needed someone to state this. So very useful." 

"Severus, she's a student." 

"No, she's not. She received the result of her NEWTs, so technically, she's no more a student." 

"She was a student while she was teaching Argus!" 

"Albus, stop whining. I'll tell you everything, I promise," said Severus, sighing. 

"I should already know. How is it that I don't?" 

"Because you never bothered to put any portrait in Argus's office and in the Potions classroom. And that we warded them against House Elves." 

"Then young Mr. Zabini being in Miss Granger's rooms…?" 

Severus rolled his eyes. 

"It was a cover, Albus. What are you trying to achieve? Make us confess everything we've done, lying to you, hiding things from you – oh, the heinous crime! – having our own secrets? The war is over, Albus, there is no need for you to know everything anymore." 

"And what is the Ministry going to say? Cornelius will–" 

"What will the Ministry say, Percy?" interrupted Severus. 

Molly gasped as her son entered the room as if he owned it. 

"I don't think it's going to be a problem, Professor Snape," said Percy, pompous as ever. "Fudge will never know any of this. I assume you have been discreet?" 

"The Headmaster himself didn't know about it," replied Severus, rolling his eyes. 

Percy overlooked his answer and peered intently at Argus and Elena. 

"I don't remember you being there for the last Death Eaters' capture and I should know: I went with Professor Snape to the Aurors." 

"Nothing that a good Obliviate wouldn't take care of," intervened Minerva, who was beginning to be quite amused by the display. 

"Anyway, he's probably lying," continued Percy, imperturbable, his voice dripping with spite. "He couldn't have done anything: he's just a Squib and nothing–" 

He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out of it. Hermione stepped forward, her wand still pointed at him, and her eyes were blazing with fury. 

"This will be enough!" she hissed. "Argus did nothing to you, so you will stop slandering him! Percy, you're still an idiot! You were able to send back your mother's sweater but it's beyond you to think by yourself about her prejudices! And you, Mrs. Weasley! I don't know what you have against Squibs, but I'm shocked of such narrow-mindedness!" 

"You know nothing of the Squibs!" replied Molly hotly. "Their deceitfulness, their slyness! They are cunning and vengeful! They are a walking shame for their family!" 

"What do _you_ know of the Squibs?" asked Argus, stepping forward, his eyes shining in anger. "You only think of you and the 'shame' they bring on your _normal_ family. Have you only once thought about what _they_ could feel? Your cousin left for the Muggle world, most probably because you made him feel like an outsider in his own world. Believe it or not, Molly Weasley, but we Squibs belong to the Wizarding world!" 

~*~

He took a deep breath, forcing his closed fists to relax by his side. 

"You don't understand what it is to feel like a failure to your parents and family. To see your siblings use their magic without even thinking about it while _you_ have nothing! You think of magic as your birthright because you're from a pure-blood family. I am – was – a pure-blood too, Molly Weasley! I was taught to believe that people like her," – he showed Hermione – "stole what should have been mine and were granted a treasure they should never have known about! But then, I learnt better. I discovered that she, contrary to you who have magic as part of your life and think nothing of it, can indeed treasure it and understand what it would mean to live without. Because she has already done so!" 

He stepped forward, intent on Molly and oblivious of anyone else. 

"How could you understand what Hermione did for me? She didn't care I was a Squib, yet she's the most brilliant witch Hogwarts has seen for a long time! She befriended me, when I knew only the sound of the word and was ignorant of his meaning, since all I knew was the pity of the Headmaster and the indulgence of Severus. And the scorn of everybody else. She never doubted me, rather claimed that the Kwikspell program was too slow for me. Can you imagine the burst of pride and hope she gave me just by uttering those simple words? I learnt more in five minutes with her than in five years of Kwikspell! And I would never have succeeded in becoming a fully-fledged wizard had she not been there, giving me the spark of hope and the wings to fly on my own." 

He went to Hermione, standing behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders. 

"This girl, so overlooked, except for her intelligence, is a pure wonder. She didn't step back when I was lonely and despaired; she came to me and held out her hand to me, even though she had every reason to fear and hate me. She went to Severus to ask if she could use his classroom for teaching me Potions. She offered me a new kitten. She researched thoroughly for a potion that I wasn't even sure existed. She managed to link an amplifying charm on my wand so I could cast spells like any other wizard. And she gave me Elena. What more could I ask for?" 

Then, without caring for the consequences, he told everyone how the odd friendship between Hermione and him had begun and how it had evolved. At the end, Severus clapped softly. 

"Hail to Argus for the most heart-rendering speech I've ever heard and hail to Hermione to be such a compassionate witch!" he murmured mockingly. 

Tonks, her cheeks flushed, ran to Argus and hugged him. 

"I'm sorry! And I should have understood: after all, my father is a Muggle." 

Argus eyed her suspiciously. 

"You were even worse than the Weasley twins," he said slowly. 

Tonks had the grace to appear ashamed. 

"What did she do?" asked Fred, interested. 

"She did her bad deeds looking like someone else and when I reported the poor fellow, I was naturally told that such or such teacher could swear said student had never left class at the moment of the deed. She made me look like a fool!" 

Fred nodded thoughtfully. 

"Better than Polyjuice… But then, we were proud of being pranksters." 

"Speaking of which," intervened George, "that prank on Malfoy was priceless. We thus grant you the honour of being the only one to own the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' award for best prank." 

Blaise collapsed in a fit of laughter as Argus gaped at the solemn twin standing in front of him. 

~*~

After a while, everything settled down. Molly still pointedly ignored Argus, though it was clear that nobody else really understood the cause of her scorn. There had almost been an incident between Hermione and Percy when Fred had suggested that Hermione was well-qualified to make a perfect Ministry for Magic; Percy took the remark personally – which it was – and was ready to reply sharply to his brother when Hermione hastily said that she had no intention of becoming Ministry for Magic. 

Afterwards, Percy sat next to her and began asking her about her way to teach Argus. Percy was nothing but logical and the thought that he could have taken his mother's prejudices for gospel truth had miffed him. Soon they had devised between them the idea of a school for Squibs and maybe the possibility for them to have a special wand with an amplifier, like Argus's. Consulted on the subject, the caretaker could only open wide eyes in surprise, while Elena had a soft throaty laugh and declared that she fully supported the project. 

Severus, Albus and Minerva were in a corner, surrounded by a privacy spell, while Severus was telling everything to Albus, to Minerva's growing amusement. The Headmaster definitely enjoyed the fact that Argus had been jealous of Neville, but appreciated much less the Cheering Draught on his sherbet lemons, even though it made Minerva giggle like a schoolgirl. 

Harry, near the door, contemplated the scene with a slight smirk. 

"All in all, it seems to work well," he said to Ron. 

"Uh-uh. Even Snape isn't on his own and, for once, he's even not scowling!" 

Harry frowned. 

"There's still the problem of your mother, though." 

"Don't worry. Dad will make her come to her senses soon enough. I don't think she ever cared to think about the point of view of a Squib. Must be quite a shock for her." 

"I just hope she will understand there's nothing to be upset about." 

"Don't worry," repeated Ron. "She managed to accept a Veela in the family, even though Fleur threatened her authority, since everybody had the tendency to listen to her rather than to Mum, so I don't think the fact that Hermione had a Squib for friend is going to faze her for long." 

Harry nodded, smiling. It had been true that the first contacts between Fleur and Molly had been quite hectic to say the last. Bill had just leaned back and let them clear the things between them. 

"You know, for a moment, I almost thought that Hermione was going to tell her everything she was resentful about." 

"Like what? Mum considers Hermione like her daughter!" 

"Like the fact that in our fourth year, your mother believed Rita Skeeter rather than trust that Hermione would ever hurt me. Like in fifth year, she forbade Sirius to tell me everything and maybe, if I had known, Sirius would still be alive…" 

Ron looked at him, aghast. 

"Surely you don't think–" 

"I've thought about it many times, Ron, and Hermione knows it. In sixth year, I was trying to put the blame on everyone rather than think that it could be my fault, because I hadn't trust Snape, because I hadn't thought of the mirror, because I hadn't cared about Occlumency… And it did come to my mind that maybe, if your mother had not intervened, Sirius would have told us what was the 'weapon', the prophecy… and then I would have known that I could let it where it was." 

"Blimey, Harry! That's madness! Mum is for nothing in Sirius's death!" 

"She is, a little, like a lot of us. Like Dumbledore, Snape, Remus, Sirius himself and me. But she just wanted me to be able to feel like a child, not a grown-up with so many responsibilities… She wanted to protect me, the same way Dumbledore wanted to and agreed he shouldn't have done." 

Ron peered intently at him before shrugging. 

"Believe what you want, mate, but I'll keep thinking you're wrong. Now, stop thinking those gloomy thoughts. Sirius wouldn't want you to." 

"True. I have my birthday party to think of. I'll be eighteen!" 

Ron quirked his eyebrow. 

"Nothing to be smug about. I'm eighteen for three months now." 

Harry hit him in the arm and they both laughed themselves silly. 

~*~

Another year was beginning at Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat had already sung a joyful song, claiming the advantages of an alliance between Slytherin and Gryffindor, though almost nobody understood a thing about it. Ginny and Luna shared a secret smile with the Head table. Albus then remembered everybody of the rules – nobody could go in the Forbidden Forest, the list of forbidden items was pinned on Argus's door, etc. – before having a devious little smile. 

"Now, I'm proud to say that Hogwarts has the two youngest Potions Masters of Great-Britain, and also the best, Professor Snape and Miss Granger. Professor Snape remains your teacher and Miss Granger is staying here for research. If you have questions about Potions, you may ask any of them, but please keep in mind that Professor Snape may not be too happy if students monopolise his young fiancée too much." 

The students gaped. Severus glared at Albus, whose eyes twinkled a bit more. Hermione smiled and put her hand on Severus's wrist. He looked at her and smiled wryly, turning his wrist to make her hand slid in his. 

"As for the annual announcement, we _do_ have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and we hope very much she will stay for more than one year. Please welcome Elena Norris!" 

Severus smiled and clapped along with the others when the lanky woman in red robes stood up. The students whispered between them. 

"Norris? Like in Mrs. Norris?" 

"Wonder what Filch will say about it." 

"Hey, looks like Snape doesn't hate her!" 

"I daresay that most of you are already familiar with Professor Norris, though maybe not under her human form," continued Albus. 

Elena glanced at Severus and smirked before turning into a cat with a rust-coloured fur and lamp-like eyes. Leaning against the door of the Great Hall, Argus smiled, still caressing Orestes. 

"Terrific!" exclaimed a first-year Hufflepuff, who hadn't yet seen Minerva McGonagall do the same thing. 

"One last thing about our caretaker. Due to one of our students last year, Mr. Filch became very gifted with handy hexes and jinxes and he is allowed to use them on students breaking the rules. So if one of you turns blue or green, no worries to have, the jinx is totally harmless, except for the victim's pride." 

Several students laughed, remembering the jinx on Draco the previous year. 

"And now, tuck in!" 

And they all lived happily ever after. 

Or maybe not. 

* * *

The End!


End file.
